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ULv d , 

BUREAU OF NAVIGATION-HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE. 

94 ). ^- V 


t *» 


PAPERS 

ON 

THE EASTERN AND NORTHERN EXTENSIONS 


OF 

THE GULF STREAM. 


FROM THE GERMAN OF 

DR. A. PETERMANN, DR. W. VON FREEDEN, AND DR. A. MUHRY. 

A i ) 


TRANSLATED IN THE UNITED STATES HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE, 
IN CHARGE OF CAPTAIN R. H. WYMAN, U. S. N., 


BY 



E. R. KNORR. 

i 


& 


\ 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1871 . 







G C 

.Gc ^ vi 5 























« 






» 






* 









Hydrographic Office, 
Washington, D, C ., November 1870 . 

The valuable papers of Doctors Petermann, Von Freeden, and Miihry, on 
the eastern and northern extension of the Gulf Stream, are republished in 
translation; not only for the fund of information they contain, of interest both 
to science and to shipping, and especially to whalers and seal-fishers, but 
also, for the purpose of promoting the cooperation of the latter in the inves¬ 
tigation of the relation of the currents and temperature of the northern seas. 

It will be seen on the accompanying charts that comparatively few Obser¬ 
vations have been made, thus far, to the north of the ordinary routes between 
the United States and Great Britain. In those more northern fields the 
whaling fleet is engaged at all times, frequently wintering there, and their 
masters have ample opportunities for making valuable observations, as, being 
on the spot, they are able to take advantage of those favorable openings which 
are so rare, and for which expeditions, sent out especially, have waited in 
vain. 

The Hydrographic Office will cheerfully receive any records and make the 
most appropriate use of them, giving due credit to the contributors. 

Information, as regards the observations required, the forms for records, 
&c., will be found in the following pages. The instruments used should, on 
the return, be compared with standards, and a full description of them sent, 
with the record, in order that the observations may be properly reduced. 

The temperatures, in the German text and on the original maps, were 
according to Reaumur; they have been reduced to Fahrenheit; the decimals 
have been dropped, and the nearest whole degree substituted to prevent 
crowding the maps. In the text they have been retained only where neces¬ 
sary. 

The figures of reference in the text refer to the notes which will be found 
at the end of the work. These have been given in full, where the references 
were in the German language, or where the books referred to are difficult to 
obtain. 

The remarks printed within brackets are by the Hydrographic Office. 

R. H. WYMAN, 

Captain U. S. N., 
in charge of Hydrographic Office. 



























CONTENTS. 


PAPER I. 

Page, 

The Gulf Stream and the knowledge of tile thermal properties of the North Atlan¬ 
tic Ocean and its continental borders, up to 1870, by Dr. A. Petermann. 1 to 115 

1. Introduction. Dr. Petermann’s conception of tlie Gulf Stream—1852 and 1865. Views of 

Kohl, Findlay, and others. £ 

2. Construction of the accompanying charts; authorities... 6 

Maury’s thermal charts....... H 

Andrau’s and Whitley’s mean values. 8 

Observations in Scotland, Iceland, the Faroes and Norway, prepared by Buchan and Mohn. 9 

Observations in the Baltic Sea and on the Danish light-vessels. 17 

Observations on hoard the transatlantic mail steamships. 19 

Inglefield, Irminger, the Bull-dog expedition, Duflferin. 27 

Dorst, Koldewey, Nordenskiold, and Bessels. 31 

Von Baer, the Irish oyster fisheries, Captain Spratt. 36 

Authorities for the temperature of the air. 41 

3. The Gulf Stream from the observations up to 1870. 42 

Temperature of air and sea in the equatorial belt of the Atlantic Ocean. 42 

The hot core of the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream and the Polar Stream at Newfoundland 42 

The Gulf Stream at Iceland. Irminger’s and Dufferin’s observations. 44 

The warm and cold bands of the sea between Iceland and the Faroes. Wallich. 45 

The Polar Stream east of Iceland, as far down as the German Sea. 45 

The winter of the British Isles compared with that of Germany. 46 

Summer and winter in Iceland. The slight fluctuation in the temperature of the sea. 47 

Influences of the Gulf Stream on the northernmost coasts of Europe. 48 

Winter fisheries at Aasvaer. Lophelia affinis. 48 

Navigation near the North Cape at— 18°. The Murmanian coast. 49 

Observations at Bear Island and Nova Zembla.„. 50 

Climate of Spitzbergen. Mild winters in East Greenland.. 53 

4. The Gulf Stream at its northern extremity. The North Polar expeditions. 55 

The Gulf Stream and the Polar Stream at Bear Island and at Spitzbergen. Cftlor and dens¬ 
ity of the water. Vertical relations. 55 

The westerly bight in the ice. T . 56 

The always open sea north of Siberia. 59 

The experience of Palliser, Johannesen, Bessels, and Parry. 60 

The line dividing the Gulf Stream from the Polar Stream. The ice belt.. 62 

5. Drift-wood in the Arctic.. 65 

The West-Indian “ entada gigalobium” and the Siberian larix. 66 

6 . The observations of deep-sea temperature. Drift-currents and winds. The British so unding- 

expeditions of 1868 and 1869. 67 

Table of deep-sea temperature from latitude 80° N. to latitude 80° S. Parry, Knudsen_ 68 

Scoresby’s observations, 1810 to 1817. 69 

The winds in the North Atlantic. Drift-currents. 71 

The thermal observations of the British sounding-expedition. 73 

Arctic and Antarctic currents in the Irish waters. 7 5 

7. The salt of the ocean and its relations to the Gulf Stream. Bottle experiments. 75 

The salineness of the Gulf Stream and of the parts of the Atlantic Ocean bordering it. 75 

Professor Forchhammer’s analyses. 77 

The currents on the east coast of Greenland. The Labrador Stream. 81 

The bottle experiments and their fallacy. 82 












































VI 


CONTENTS. 


8 . Tlio Gulf Stream between the parallels of latitude 33° N. and 82^ N. Recapitulation. 

The North Polar expeditions, and especially the German.-. 

Necessity of the cliartographic representation of physical observations. 

First supplement. The temperature of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, bj 

Rear-Admiral C. Irminger.. 

Second supplement. Meteorological observations during a winter stay on Bear Island, I 860 - 66 , 

by Sievert Tobieson... . 


Page. 

83 

88 

89 

92 

104 


PATER II. 


The scientific results of 


the first German North Polar expedition, by Dr. W. Yon 


Freeden .. 117 to 133 

. Narrative of the expedition. 

The horizontal extent of the Gulf Stream as shown by surface isothermal curves. 122 


Deep-sea thermal observations, and the sub-surface continuations of the Gulf Stream and of the 

Polar Stream. 125 

Inferences in regard to polar expeditions. 127 

The winds and the weather. 127 

Magnetic observations. 133 


TAPER III, 


The system of oceanic currents in the circumpolar basin of the Northern Hemisphere, 


by Dr. A. Muhry .. 135 to 157 

General conception. 137 

I. The outflowing momentum, or the Polar Current. 141 

1. The eastern Polar or Arctic Stream. 141 

2. The western Polar or Arctic Stream. 144 

II. The inflowing momentum, or the Anti-polar Current, (the Gulf Stream). 149 

1. The eastern stream, (the Scandinavian part). 147 

2. The western stream, (the Greenland branch). 150 

III. The problematical current along the central line of the Polar Basin. 154 

Recapitulation. 157 


IV.—FIRST APPENDIX. 

Preliminary reports of the second German North Polar expeditions and of minor ex¬ 


peditions in 1870.. 159 to 194 

A. The second German expedition. 

1. The cruise of the steamer Germania.... 151 

2. The cruise and loss of the sailing-yacht Hansa.'. igi 

B. Minor expeditions in 1870.. Igy 

1. The Swedish expedition.... Igy 

2 . The explorations of Yon Heughlin and Count Zeil in and near East Spitzbergen. 188 

3. The cruise of shipmaster E. Ulve.. 19 q 

4. The cruise of Captain Johannesen in 1870.. 191 

5. The cruises of Captain Carlsen. 191 

6 . Lamont’s cruise. 192 

7. The expedition of Grand Duke Alexei in the Russian corvette Warjag. 192 


8 . The examinations of Theo. Jarshinski in the White Sea and on the Murmanian coast in 
1869... 


193 






































CONTENTS. 


VII 


Page. 

V.—REFERENCES AND NOTES.... 195 to 370 

(Tlie references stating merely tlie title of a book or short explanations are not indexed.) 

No. of note. 


4. The northernmost land of the globe, by Dr. A. Petermann. 198 

Currents and their influence on climate, vegetation, animal life, and man... . 198 

The newly-discovered Polar land and the expeditions to the Arctic Sea north of Beh¬ 
ring’s Strait, from 1648 to 1867, by Dr. A. Petermann. 201 

5 and 6. On the Gulf Stream, by A. G. Findlay. 202 

Soundings and temperatures in the Gulf Stream, by Commander W. Chimmo, R. N-.. 207 

Discussion of the two papers by the Royal Geographical Society. 215 

Letter of Rear-Admiral Irminger on the subject... 219 

7 and 8. On the temperature and animal life of*the deep sea, by Dr. William B. Carpenter. 222 

9. From a discourse delivered by Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, “ The deep-sea dredging-expedi¬ 
tion.” ... 231 


23 and 24. On the surface temperature of the North Atlantic in reference to ocean-currents, by Nich¬ 
olas Whitley, C. E. 

25. On the temperature of the sea on the coast of Scotland, by Alexander Buchan. 

30. Currents and ice-drifts on the coasts of Iceland, by Captain C. Irminger, Danish Navy.. 
33. Fluctuations in the temperature of the sea at the Norwegian stations compared with those 

observed by the first German North Polar expedition. 

49. The ice of the Arctic Ocean in the summer of 1869. 

56. Account of the Swedish North Polar expedition of 1868 under command of E. Nordens- 

kiold and Fr. W. Yon Otter; extracts. 

67. Temperature of the Mediterranean Sea at various depths, by Captain T. Spratt, British 

navy; extract.-•. 

93. Means of the temperature of Nova Zembla.. • 

99. Summary of the Sabine-Clavering expedition in 1823... 

107. Summary of Captain Graali’s expedition to the east coast of Greenland, 1828 to 1831- 

112. Letter of Captain Gray to the President of the Royal Geographical Society in regard to 

Arctic expeditions.-. 

115. Deep-sea soundings of the Swedish Arctic expeditions. 

123. Palliser’s and Johannesen’s cruises in 1869. 

125. Dr. Bessels’s and Dr. Dorst’s cruises in 1869... 

126. The expedition of Barto Yon Lowenigh in 1827, Lamont in 1858, and Birkbeck and 

Newton in 1864. 

127. The ice in the Antarctic regions ; extracts from Sir James Ross’ Yoyage of Discovery 

and Research, 1839 to 1843.-. 

165. Dr. Keith Johnston on the temperature of the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic Ocean.. 
172. On the composition of sea-water in the different parts of 'the ocean, by Professor Georg 

Forchhammer; extracts...— 

180. On ocean currents, by James Croll; extracts. 

201. The currents observed by the first German North Polar expedition, 1868. 

206. Abstract of the journal of the first German North Polar expedition, 1868.. 

208. Table of deep-sea soundings of the first German North Polar expedition, 1868, and speci¬ 
mens of bottom discussed,, by Professor Ehrenberg.-. 

210. Deep-sea temperatures observed by the first German North Polar expedition in 1868- 

211. Deep-sea temperatures of the steamer Hansteen in 1868. 

212. Recapitulation of Arctic sleigh-expeditions. 

213. Recapitulation of the principal expeditions to the sea north of Spitzbergen. 

214. Tables of mean and extreme temperature -of the air observed by the first German North 

Polar expedition.* *;. 

215. A register of winds, &c., observed by the first German North Polar expedition. 

216. The physical North Polo...... 

217. Storm-squalls. Influence of the winds on the movements of the barometer and thermom¬ 

eter, and on the.precipitated moisture.*............ 

218. Deviations of the compass observed by the first German North Polar expedition. 

220. Relative weight of sea-water.*. 

221. The increase of the temperature downward in the Arctic Ocean. 

229. Depth of icebergs below the surface of the sea.-. 

230. The climate of Spitzbergen.* * 4 -. 


236 

238 

256 


265 

268 

269 

280 

284 

285 
285 


288 

290 

293 

297 


300 

301 
306 


309 

324 

340 

342 

350 

353 

353 

354 
354 


354 

355 
360 

360 

362 

364 

364 

366 

367 








































VIII 


CONTENTS. 


VI.—SECOND APPENDIX. 

. Page. 

1. The Gulf Stream east of the North Capo, by Von MiddendorfF. 371 

2. Captain Joliannesen’s circumnavigation of Nova Zemhla in the summer of 1870. 381 

3. Captain Torkildson’s cruise in the schooner Alpha, 1870 . 382 

4. Captain Torkildson’s cruise in the schooner Iceland, 1870.J 383 

5. Captain Ulve’s cruise in the schooner Samson, 1870-•. 384 

6. Captain Mack’s cruise in the schooner Polar Star, 1870. 386 

7. Captain Quale’s cruise in the yacht Johanna Maria, 1870. 387 









THE GULF STREAM, 

AND THE 


KNOWLEDGE OF THE THERMAL PROPERTIES OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC 
OCEAN AND ITS CONTINENTAL BORDERS, UP TO 1870. 


(WITH TWO CHARTS.) 

l/ 

By AUGUSTUS PETERMANN. 


FROM THE “MITTHEILUNGEN,” BY THE GEOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTUS PERTHES, 

16th VOLUME, 1870, PARTS VI AND VII. 











* 





























1.—INTRODUCTION. 


Five years ago, when urging the exploration of the polar regions, I took 
occasion to review briefly the oceanic currents, especially the Gulf Stream. 1 

Until then the Gulf Stream generally was represented, on charts and 
in the various text-books, as extending only to about the 45th degree of 
northern latitude, turning there toward the African coast; the conception 
and the knowledge of it was confined almost exclusively to that southern por¬ 
tion of the system of North Atlantic currents. 

My own ideas, in 18G5, of the extent and of the immense volume of the 
Gulf Stream I expressed as follows : 

Instead of a weak and insignificant drift from Newfoundland toward Europe, as 
heretofore represented, I consider the northern part of the Gulf Stream one of the 
mightiest currents of the world, although comparatively but slow, not very per¬ 
ceptible on the surface of the ocean, and therefore of no great moment to naviga¬ 
tion. I do so, because ocean currents have to perform yet other functions than merely 
those of a strong surface stream. In that view I conceive the Gulf Stream to be a 
deep, permanently warm current from Newfoundland to the coasts of France, Great 
Britain, Scandinavia, and Iceland, up to Bear Island, Jan-Mayen, and Spitzbergen; 
and along the western coast of the latter up to the 80th degree of north latitude, thence 
to Nova Zeinbla into the Polar SeaJ passing the northernmost capes of Siberia and the 
New Siberian Islands, where it appears on the charts as the Polynja of the Russians, 
discovered by Hedenstrom sixty years ago, and fully corroborated by Wrangell and 
Anjou, its influence being felt perceptibly even as far east as Cape Jakan. We were 
the first, I believe, who attributed to the Gulf Stream so mighty an extent and showed 
it as such on our charts thirteen years ago, when addressing the late hydrographer of the 
British Admiralty, Sir Francis Beaufort, in a paper which was printed by order of the 
British Parliament. 2 

On that occasion I traced in detail the wonderful and grand influence of 
the Gulf Stream from Newfoundland up to Cape Jakan in the vicinity of the 
Behring Strait. 3 

In two monographs, published since, “The Northernmost Land of the 
Globe,” and “The Expeditions to the Arctic Ocean north of Behring Strait, 
1648 to 1867,” I have traced a branch of the Gulf Stream up to Smith's 
Sound and another warm current from the Pacific Ocean through Behring 
Strait up to the polar land discovered by Kellett and Long. 4 

Although, since 1865, high authorities have pronounced against my theory 
of the extent and the volume of the Gulf Stream, I cannot but still maintain 
1 


2 


the same, and shall now produce the figures of actual observations, on which 
it is based, and without which we but drift into arbitrary suppositions. 

Before doing so, however, I shall refer to a few of the numerous objec¬ 
tions raised against it. 

Mr. A. G. Findlay, the meritorious English hydrograplier, in a discourse 
before the Geographical Society of London, held February 5, 1869, main¬ 
tained that the Gulf Stream proper, discharging through the Florida Straits, 
has not sufficient width and depth to reach the coasts of Europe, or to affect 
the climate of the latter, as with its diminishing velocity it would require one 
or two years to come over to Europe, during which time the temperature of 
the water would become too low to exercise any influence; further, that the 
Gulf Stream, after having reached Newfoundland, is totally annihilated by 
the Polar Stream, and is not perceptible beyond; that the mild climate of 
Northwestern Europe cannot be attributed to the Gulf Stream, but results 
from the general drift of the North Atlantic Ocean, and that the currents 
near Europe should be designated as such and named accordingly. 5 

That the Gulf Stream, in its course toward Europe, receives and unites 
with a drift corresponding in direction, is probable and natural; but it is 
equally certain that the former is the main body or the principal stream of 
the general movement of the North Atlantic waters at all times of the year, 
as proved most positively by Maury’s thermal charts. 

Of continental rivers the expression is used that they have their source 
or head and their mouth, but this does not imply that all the water emptying 
at the mouth comes exclusively from the small source. The Florida Stream 
may be compared with the head of a great river which is swelled, in its course 
to the mouth, by tributaries. In the same manner, then, as a great river basin 
is named from the principal river, it appears proper and to the purpose to 
retain for the warm North Atlantic current the name “ Gulf Stream.” It surely 
would be difficult to ascertain where the Florida Stream ceases really, where 
it receives tributaries, and how many, and what part of the temperature of 
the combined stream is ascribable to the Florida Stream, and what to the 
tributaries. The name “Gulf Stream” has been adopted so generally for the 
great oceanic current which bathes the European shores that it would rather 
be better to call the head and the first part of the course “ Florida Stream/’ 
than to use for the other part a new and complicated name, instead of one 
long known and now used throughout. 


3 


In regard to tlie essential features, the inherent qualities of the stream, 

I refer, for the present, to the two accompanying charts. In Findlay’s chart 
of the Gulf Stream, 6 the stream terminates between the 40th and 45th de¬ 
grees of northern latitude and near the 45th degree of longitude west of Green¬ 
wich. I leave it to be inferred from my charts how far that can be justified. 

Findlay, however, does not deny the extension of a warm current to 
Europe, and this is*and remains the main point. But Messrs. Carpenter and 
Jeffreys, the scientific gentlemen of the two British expeditions for deep-sea 
sounding, deny it distinctly. 

William B. Carpenter leaves it an unsolved question whether the higher 
temperature of the North Atlantic, near the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, 
is exclusively solar, (caused by the sun,) or whether it results, more or less, 
from the Gulf Stream. 7 He says: 

The influences of the Gulf Stream proper, (meaning by this the body of super¬ 
heated waters which issues through the “Narrows” from the Gulf of Mexico,) if it 
reaches this locality at all, which is very doubtful, could only affect the most super¬ 
ficial stratum j and the same may be said of the surface-drift caused by the prevalence 
of southwesterly winds. 

* Jeffreys is of opinion that the mollusca of this part of the ocean are 
mostly arctic or northern species, which would disprove the theory of the 
Gulf Stream’s reaching to the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. 9 

The expedition, however, ascertained the temperature of the water, at a 
depth of 1,000 fathoms, to be 38°J, and at 2435 fathoms, still 36°.5. 
Compared with this, the deep-sea temperature of the Gulf of Arabia, and 
even of the waters under the Equator, will be found very low, sinking to 34°; 
in general the deep-sea temperature of the tropical oceans is lower than that 
of the North Atlantic basin. 10 

The upper warm stratum of the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ireland 
and the Faroes, was, from the soundings of the two British expeditions of 
Carpenter, computed to have a depth and width of not less than 700 to 800 
fathoms, 11 which, of course, excludes the idea of a drift or surface current, 
and most strongly fortifies the theory of a deep, voluminous, warm stream. 
Therefore Carpenter and Jeffreys, while denying the extension of the Gulf 
Stream into those latitudes, j)roduce the strongest evidence against their own 
assumption. 

In the United States of America, also, where Maury has earned the 
thanks of mankind for his great labors toward the better knowledge of the 
oceans, voices have been raised lately against the extension of the Gulf 


4 


Stream beyond the approximate middle of the North Atlantic, the 40th degree 
of longitude west of Greenwich. Hon. Charles Daly, the president of the 
American Geographical and Statistical Society, in his annual address of Jan¬ 
uary 25 says: 

Witli the view of ascertaining what we really know respecting the velocity and 
course of the Gulf Stream, I applied to one of the oldest members of the society, G. W. 
Blunt, esq., whom, as the head of the well-known house that has, for nearly a century, 
prepared and published the charts that have guided the Amefican mariner in every 
quarter of the globe, I considered the most competent person, with whom I was ac¬ 
quainted, to furnish the information. I submit his reply: 

“ December 22,1869.—I send you my North Atlantic memoir, which contains all 
the accurate information (I am sorry to say, not a great deal) about that much misrep¬ 
resented current of the ocean, the Gulf Stream, which body has to bear with the inven¬ 
tions of Maury, the stupidities of weather predictors, and the assumptions of meteorolo¬ 
gists, enough, either of them, to crush out the vitality of anything which has not so per¬ 
fect an organization as the Gulf Stream has. The only accurate observations we have of 
the Gulf Stream are those of the United States Coast Survey, directed by Professor A. 
D. Baclie. * * * * * Beyond the Western Islands, I believe the Gulf 

Stream has no existence, and that the alleged effects of it on the climate of the British 
Islands are due to the assertions of the class I have spoken of in the first paragraph of 
my letter. * * * * The Q u ]f stream, as a current, I believe, entirely ceases 

and loses all its equatorial heat to the eastward of the longitude of 40 degrees; the set 
to the east is that of the general set of the North Atlantic, and the temperature of the 
water is that of the general temperature in those regions.” 12 

So much has of late been written against the Gulf Stream, or against its 
extension toward Europe, that influential journals of England, circulating in 
educated society, put down the entire*subject as a humbug. 13 

In Germany a better knowledge of the Gulf Stream is now firmly es¬ 
tablished. The various charts of the world by Dr. Hermann Berghaus, 
especially his great chart and his small Mercator’s chart, showing the currents, 
in Stieler’s Atlas, (No. 9,) are the best and most accurate representations exist¬ 
ing of the oceanic currents, and contain more valuable and reliable informa¬ 
tion about them than everything else which has been written thus far. The 
memoirs of Dr. Adolf Miiliry, among others his latest, “The Theory of 
Oceanic Currents, Gottingen, 1869,” are at the head of text-books. 

There still are, however, authors in Germany who plead for the views 
of Findlay or Blunt. Dr. H. Romberg, in a lecture, delivered February 
15, 1870, before the Society of Natural Sciences of Bremen, on the subject 
of oceanic currents, and on Dr. Muhry’s memoir, just cited, pronounced “that 
the importance of the Gulf Stream to the climate of* Europe appears to him 
to be overrated, and that probably a drift, more than the Gulf Stream, 


5 


carries the warm waters toward the coasts of Western Europe.” 14 A single 
glance at my two charts will show that, on the contrary, this influence has 
heretofore been underrated . The “History of the Gulf Stream,” by J. G. 
Kohl, and the latter’s views, are characterized most conclusively by the clos¬ 
ing passage of the book. It is said there: 

All late liydrograpliers have represented the Gulf Stream the same as Findlay, 
partly on his authority. The picture he draws of it, which also has been reproduced 
on the chart of the Atlantic currents accompanying Captain A. B. Beecher’s book on 
the navigation of the Atlantic Ocean, may well serve as a type of the theories adopted 
of late in regard to the extent of the Gulf Stream . 15 

According to Kohl, Mr. Findlay is assuming the Gulf Stream to 
proceed around North Cape, “along the coast of Siberia, and along the Arctic 
archipelego of North America, (revolving around the North Pole,) and thence 
through Davis’s Strait into Baffin’s Bay, back again into the Atlantic Ocean.” 15 

There can be no stronger contradiction and more positive protest against 
this assertion than the memoir of Findlay, published February 8, 1869, in 
which he cuts off the Gulf Stream on the meridian of 45° W. of Greenwich, 
going back even to the time before Rennell, who already, in 1832, had pro¬ 
duced it to the Azores, beyond the 30th degree west of Greenwich, bending 
it there toward the south, in which there is at least common sense; while it 
is contrary to the laws of nature to cut it off, without any motive, in the 
middle of the ocean, as Findlay has done in his latest chart. 16 

Kohl, in his memoir of 1868, ignores the most important authorities for 
the Gulf Stream; for instance, Maury’s thermal charts of 1852, Andrau’s 
“ Onderzoekingen mit den Zee Thermometer, 1861,” and a series of observa¬ 
tions and explorations north of the regions discussed by the above. Stations 
for the observation of the temperature of the sea existed there before 
1868; for instance, at Reikiavik since May, 1832, and those of the Scottish 
Meteorological Society, extending as high as Stykkisliolmr in Iceland. 

Kohl contends “that, up to 1868, all the operations in the Gulf Stream 
had been carried on in summer time, and that, therefore, but very little is 
known of the temperature and the other properties of the stream during the 
winter months.” 17 A glance at the chart, “The Gulf Stream in Winter,” will 
show how ill founded this assertion is, since most of the observations re¬ 
corded on its face did exist before 1868. Maury’s thermal charts, published 
1852, contain thousand § of good observations; Andrau’s “Onderzoekingen” 
of 1861, (pages 7, 8, and 18,) give alone for the three winter months, Decern- 


6 


ber, January, and February, the mean values of 8,176 single observations in 
the Atlantic Ocean, up to 49° N. latitude. 

The three charts accompanying Kohl’s book extend not further north 
and east than 47^° N. (south coast of Newfoundland) and 30° W. of Green¬ 
wich, (the Azores.) 

To sum up, there has been too much written about the Gulf Stream, 
while too little has been shown by charts. 


2.—CONSTRUCTION OF THE TWO ACCOMPANYING CHARTS, “THE GULF 
STREAM IN THE SUMMER, (JULY,) AND IN THE WINTER, (JANU¬ 
ARY,)”—AUTHORITIES. 

My current chart of 1865 18 represented the currents of the globe, with 
the exception of the equatorial belt between 20° N. and 20° S. latitude; and 
my conception of them, at that time, has, in the main, been proved correct 
by the subsequent researches and observations. The two new charts of the 
Gulf Stream, accompanying this, are intended to show it on a scale about 
thrice as large, and to exhibit the proofs for the correctness of the represent¬ 
ation by the figures actually observed and the curves constructed from them. 
These figures, however, are only a selection from the many on my large work¬ 
ing sheets, which embrace all the months of the year; while the limits of this 
periodical permit to be represented only the two culmination months, July 
and January. 

On the charts the Gulf Stream may be traced from step to step by hun¬ 
dreds of figures, expressing the mean values of many hundred thousand single 
observations. To do so unbiased, it will be well to cast loose from the the¬ 
ories of Rennell, Findlay, and others, which, for thirty-eight years, have been 
in the way of a correct conception of the Gulf Stream phenomenon. 

The most important authorities for the Gulf Stream have been, during 
the last eighteen years, and still are, the wind and current charts of the North 
Atlantic, prepared, under the direction of Lieutenant Maury, at the United 
States Naval Observatory, and published by the Government of the United 
States, 19 on which the observations for the temperature of the surface of the 
ocean, made on board of a very great number of ships, are recorded in a 
manner so as to distinguish between the figures for each of the twelve months 
of the year by their color, their size, and by the way of their being printed, 



7 


(upright, slanting, or reversed,) which, however, is quite difficult. The eight 
sheets contain not less than 27,485 figures, which, in many places, are printed 
not only very close but even over each other in the various colors; thus creat¬ 
ing a confusion, which is still further aggravated by the addition of a number 
of isothermal lines, denoting the temperature for every ten degrees in each 
month. No one has ever yet, to my knowledge, taken the pains to make an 
exhaustive use of all the figures on these sheets. 

Professor Schmid, in his excellent and very complete “ Compendium of 
Meteorology,” 20 reproduces the isothermal curves of Maury on twelve charts, 
one for each month, without any figures of observation, and takes occasion to 
criticise Maury’s thermal charts as follows: 

The more rich the material, the less clear is the representation. In fact, even with 
great attention and aided by a good eye sight, it is difficult to find the way through the 
mass of figures and lines, and it is much to be regretted that there is not a table of fig¬ 
ures appended to the graphical representation, adding clearness to accuracy and pre¬ 
cision. The inflections of the isothermal lines are so very sinuous that one rather sees 
in them accidental deviations of some single observations than the probability of a 
general mean value; the waters of the ocean are too agitable, and, in the whole, too 
much agitated, to look for rigidly-defined lines, expressing the relations of the various 
parts toward each other. 

In constructing charts everything depends upon a sound generalization, 
answering the purpose. If, for a general chart, one should but accurately 
copy the topographical charts of the various parts, the representation of the 
whole would be very defective, wanting especially in general characteristics. 
Still worse would be an isothermal chart, if it were attempted to have regard 
to every elevation of a few hundred feet, which influences the temperature; 
a complete labyrinth of lines, from which comparatively nothing could be 
derived, would be the result. 

Maury’s isothermal lines do not show the substance and do not convey a 
clear representation of his valuable figures. I have constructed, therefore, 
from the latter, new isothermal lines, representing as accurately as possible 
mean values of the temperature of the ocean. Most of the small differences, 
in detail, may result from the extent allotted to the monthly period, as it is 
probable that the observations obtained on the 31st of July agree better with 
those of August 1, than with those of July 1. 

The second principal source of the knowledge of the Gulf Stream is 
“The Observations of Dutch Navigators,” published at the expense of the 
Netherland Government, 18G1. 21 But, while Maury’s figures go beyond the 


8 


60th degree of north latitude, these reach only to the 49th degree, and are, 
besides, only the deduced mean values, and not, as on Maury’s charts, the 
actually observed figures. The Atlantic Ocean has been, for that purpose, 
partitioned into squares of one degree of latitude and five degrees of longi¬ 
tude, and the mean is taken of all the observations in each of them and 
recorded. On my chart I have designated them as “ Andrau’s mean values,” 
the chief of the Royal Netherland Meteorological Institute in the Navy De¬ 
partment, Lieutenant Andrau, of the Netherland navy, having prepared the 
book. 

These mean values are given in twelve tables, and represent 44,747 
observations, viz., 3,417 for January, 2,049 for February, 3,534 for March, 
3,566 for April, 3,771 for May, 4,550 for June, 3,742 for July, 4,837 for 
August, 3,840 for September, 3,241 for October, 5,490 for November, and 
2,650 for December. There are added also four isothermal charts, two for 
February and August, and two others for the means of February and March 
together, and for the means of August and September together, showing the 
isothermal lines for every five degrees Celsius, in some parts for every degree. 

On my charts Andrau’s mean values occupy principally the southeastern 
part of the North Atlantic Ocean from the West European coast to the Azores, 
and beyond them; on the whole they agree excellently with Maury’s figures, 
from which they are distinguished on the charts by difference in the type. 

For the part of the ocean from 50° to 55° N. latitude, already so well 
provided for by Maury and Andrau, there are also various other series of 
observations, for instance, the report of the British Meteorological Institute, 
“Non-official, No. 2,” 22 but the figures on which these are based are repre¬ 
sented by diagrams in profile, and cannot be deduced with accuracy from 
them. Moreover, the results of Maury’s and Andrau’s figures are not likely 
to be changed materially by additional data. 

There are, further, the “ Mean Values” of Whitley, 23 from the observations 
during'five years on board of the vessels of the Cunard Steamship Line 
between Liverpool and New York, from which the monthly means are com¬ 
puted for each five degrees of longitude. A table of these means has already 
been published in the “Geographische Mittheilungen.” 24 

To use these mean values for isothermal charts would not only be of no 
profit, but they might, besides annoying, actually corrupt the other data, as 
there is only the longitude recorded for position and not the latitude; if the 


9 


latter is deduced from the average course of the steamers, the values for tem¬ 
perature are evidently too high; the ships, in fact, deviate on their various 
trips too much from the average course, as testified by the more complete 
records of the vessels of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company, plying 
between Glasgow and Liverpool, and the Strait of Belle-Isle. 

Of the results of the various -local observations by Whitley, in the sea 
around the British Isles, I will mention as of interest only the mean tempera¬ 
ture on the line “Hull to Hamburg,” for January 1869, which is 43.° 

Of the observations which have been made north of Maury’s and An- 
drau’s fields, those by the Scottish Meteorological Society and the Norwe¬ 
gian Meteorological Institute, since January 1857, are by far the most im¬ 
portant, marking a new epoch in the history of the Gulf Stream. They are 
carried on during the entire year, in each month of it, at fixed points of the 
coast, and embrace Scotland, the Orkney Islands, Shetland, Iceland, and 
Norway up to Fruholmen in 71° 06' N. latitude, in the vicinity of the North 
Cape. 

Alexander Buchan, the secretary of the Scottish Society, in a most valuable 
monograph “On the Temperature of the Sea on the Coast of Scotland,” pub¬ 
lished 1865, reviewed minutely what the Scottish Meteorological Society had 
done so far for oceanic meteorology with its own private means. 25 That 
memoir is, in various respects, the most important existing on the tempera¬ 
ture of the ocean. The author arrives at the conclusion that the sea around 
Scotland constitutes a 'part of the Gulf Stream. He says: 

A line drawn from Cuba across the Atlantic Ocean to the Faroe Islands traverses 
water of a higher temperature than can be found east and west of it, and indicates a 
northerly current in that direction . 26 

The following are the monthly mean values and the extremes observed 
at the ten Scottish stations. On the two charts they, as also those of Iceland 
and Norway, are marked by different type and dots in red color; the seas 
west of Oban and Trinity are omitted, as of less importance and for want of 
space. 


2 


Sea temperatures , at the depth of G feet) at ten stations on the coast of Scotland, January 1857 to August 1SG5, and 18G9. 


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11 


The observations at East Yell for the Shetland Islands, for January, which 
were omitted by Buchan, I have also made use of for my chart, deeming 
them very important. The monthly mean for January is 45°.7J 28 

Mr. Buchan has had the goodness to send me the following details em¬ 
bracing the results of the observations at the stations of the Scottish Society 
in Iceland and the Faroes, up to October 1869. 29 

Mean temperature of sea and air at the stations of the Scottish Meteorological Society on ■ 

Iceland and the Faroes. 

SEA TEMPERATURE. 

Stykkisholmr, Iceland, (Latitude 65° 4' N., Longitude 22° 43' W. of Greenwich.) 


Year. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. | 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

1866 . 










43.2 

35.8 

34.5 

1867 . 

30.4 

30.2 

31.1 

30.6 

36.7 

43.9 

49.8 

50.0 

47.7 

44.1 

41.2 

37.2 

1868 . 

35.1 

31.3 

30.6 

35.8 

41.7 

46.4 

50.4 

49.1 

48.0 

42.3 

39.6 

37.2 

1869 .. 

36.7 

31.8 
























Mean_*.. 

34.0 

31.1 

30.9 

33.1 

39.2 

45.1 

50.0 

49.5 

47.8 

43.2 

39.0 

36.3 

1 


Reikiavik, Iceland. 


1866 . 








50.4 

47.7 

44.4 

38.1 

35.8 

1867 . 

30.4 

31.1 

32.9 

35.4 

42.8 

47.3 

52.9 

51.1 

49.1 

44.6 

41.4 

39.0 

1868 . 

34.7 

30.9 

31.8 

34.7 

45.3 

47.1 

48.0 

49.1 

46.4 

37.2 

36.0 

35.4 

1869 

34.7 

33.1 

35.4 

38.7 

42.1 

46.2 















Mean. 

33.3 

31.7 

33.4 

36.3 

43.5 

46.8 

50.4 

50.2 

47.7 

42.1 

38.5 

36.7 


Thorshavn, Faroes, (Latitude 62° 2' N., Longitude 6° 43' W. of Greenwich.) 


1866 











43.5 

43.9 

1867 . 

41.2 

43.5 

41.0 

40.6 

44.1 

45.0 

48.6 

49.8 

49.3 

47.3 

46.2 

45.3 

1868 . 

42.6 

40.6 

41.0 

42.1 

44.6 

48.4 

49.8 

50.0 

48.4 

46.2 

45. 3 

44.4 

1 fi6Q 

42.3 

40.3 

40. 8 

41.9 

44.6 

46.0 

48.2 

49.8 
















Mean. 

42.1 

41.4 

41.0 

41.4 

44.4 

46.4 

48.9 

49.9 

48.9 

• 46.7 

45.0 

44.6 






























































































12 


TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR. 


Stykkisiiolmr. Elevation, 37 feet. 


Year. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 


o 

,o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

' o 

o 

o 

1866 . 

17.1 

13.3 

12.4 

29.5 

30. 4 

41.4 

44.4 

43.0 

37.2 

36.3 

26.4 

23.9 

1867 . 

18.0 

23.4 

23.7 

26.4 

36.5 

43.9 

48,4 

47.3 

43.9 

37.2 

36.5 

32.7 

1868 . 

29.7 

21.9 

26.8 

36.0 

40.1 

43.7 

48.0 

45.3 

44.4 

34.7 

35.1 

32.0 


33 1 

23.2 






















Mean. 

24.6 

20.5 

21.0 

30.6 

35.6 

43.0 

46.8 

45.3 

41.9 

36.1 

32.7 

29.5 


Reikiavik. Elevation, 10 feet. 



Tiiorsiiavn. Elevation, 12 feet. 



Besides these, there exist for Reikiavik the observations of Dr. Thorstein- 
son, 30 which >1 even prefer to those of the Scottish stations, as they extend 
over a far greater period—20 to 22 years. 

The differences, in the mean values, between the latter'and the observa¬ 
tions of the Scottish Society, which only extend over three years, will be 
seen from the following: 

O 


Authorities. 

Jan. 

| 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Tliorsteinson. 

34.7 

34.2 

36.0 

37.2 

44.6 

49.3 

52.9 

49.1 

46.0 

40.6 

37. 2 

35.8 

Buchan. 

33. 3 

31.7 

33.4 

36.3 


A f* O 

50. 4 

50.2 

47.7 

42.1 

38. 5 

36. 7 



40. O 

40. o 































































































































1 Q 

lo 


Dr. Tliorsteinsoris observations of the temperature of the sea at Reilciavilc. 


Months. 

Monthly 
mean val¬ 
ues. 

Number 
of years. 

Number 

of obser¬ 
vations. 

Highest 

observed 

tempera¬ 

ture. 

Date. 

Lowest 

observed 

tempera¬ 

ture. 

Date. 

January. 

o 

34.7 

20 

168 

o 

46 

1833 

o 

30 

1848 

February . 

34.2 

20 

142 

43 

1841 

31 

1844 

March. 

36.0 

20 

139 

44 

1851 

31 

1851 

April. 

37.2 

21 

144 

48 

1833 

32 

1836,1837 

May. 

44.6 

21 

189 

50 | 

1833,1834 

| 37 

18Jjl 

June. 

49.3 

21 

223 

57 

1838.1842 

1833.1843 

41 

1836 

July. 1 

52.9 

22 

263 

61 

1833,1843 

47 

1836 

August. 

49.1 

22 

262 

61 

1843 

43 

1836 

September. 

46. 0 

21 

253 

56 

1843,1852 

39 

1836 

October. 

40.6 

21 

237 

48 

1838,1842 

29 

1843 

November. 

37.2 

21 

195 

56 

1844 

29 

1832 

December. 

35.8 

20 

156 

42 

1840 

31 

1848 


Observations of the temperature of the sea on the coast of Norway , by the Norwegian 

Meteorological Institute. 


Fruholmen, Latitude 71° 5f' N., Longitude 23° 59^' E. of Greenwich. 


Year. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Annual 

mean. 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Q 

o 

o 

c 

o 


1867 









44.1 

43.0 

40.3 

37.8 


1868 . 

36.0 

35.1 

35.6 

37.4 

37.6 

42.6 

45.5 

48.4 

47.1 

44.8 

42.6 

39.2 


1869 . 

39.6 

37.8 

38.1 

37.9 

39.4 

43.2 

47.7 

47.3 






Mean.... 

37.8 

36.5 

36.8 

37.6 

38.5 

42.9 

46.1 

47.8 

45.6 

43.9 

41.4 

38.5 

41.0 

Andennes, Datitude 69° 19' 30" N., Longitude 16° 

8' 10" 

E. OF 

Greenwich. 


1867 







47.3 

50.2 

46.8 

40.5 

34.3 

32.4 


1868 . 

31.3 

31.3 

34.0 

38.7 

44.4 

49.3 

52.0 

54. 7 

49.1 

43.2 

39.6 

35.4 


1869 . 

37.6 

35.1 

34.5 

38.1 

43.0 

49.5 

52.3 

50.9 

47.8 





Mean .... 

34.5 

33.2 

34.2 

38.4 

43.7 

49.4 

50.5 

52.0 

47.9 

41.9 

36.9 

33.9 

41.4 


Villa, Latitude 64° 32 

/ 50" N., Longitude 10 lJ 42' E. < 

of Greenwich. 


1867 







52.0 

54.0 

51.4 

44.6 

40.6 

33.1 

- 

1868 . 

34.0 

36.0 

36.7 

39.9 

47.1 

50. 7 

55.8 

58.1 

51.6 

43.0 

39.6 

37.2 


1869 . 

37.0 

36. 0 

35.4 

39.9 

44.4 

49.1 

53.6 

53. 6 

50. 4 

. 

. 

. 

. 

Mean- 

35.5 

36.0 

36.0 

39.9 

45.7 

49.8 

53. 8 

55.2 

51.1 

43.8 

40. 1 

35.1 

43.5 

























































































































14 


Observations of the temperature of the sea on the coast of Norway , &c .—Continued. 


Ona, Latitude 62° 52' 40" N., Longitude 6° 32' 45" E. of Greenwich. 


Year. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Annual 

mean. 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Q 


1868 .... 




41.9 

44.6 

49.3 

54.3 

57.4 

54.5 

50.0 

46.6 

43.0 


1869 

42 3 

41.5 

38.8 

39.9 

43. 0 

46.2 

50. 0 

52.3 

49.6 
















Mean .... 

42.3 

41.5 

38.8 

40.9 

43.8 

47.8 

52.1 

54.7 

52.0 

50.0 

46.6 

43.0 

46.2 

► 

HellisO, 

Latitude 60° 45' N., Longitude 4° 43' E. of Greenwich. 


1867 .. 









52.2 

50.2 

46.4 

43.5 


1868 . 

40. 6 

40.3 

40.6 

42.1 

43.7 

52.2 

L 53. 4 

60.4 

56.8 

52.7 

47.8 

45.7 


1869 . 

43. 0 



42.6 

45. 3 

47. 3 

52. 3 

54.7 

54.0 



















Mean .... 

41.8 

40.3 

40.6 

42.4 

44.5 

49.8 

52.8 

57.5 

54. 3 31 

51.4 

47.1 

44.6 

47.3 


Udsire, 

Latitude 59° 18' N., Longitude 

: 4° 52 

' E. of Greenwich. 


1867 . 







55.8 

59. 4 

57.6 

50.5 

46.4 

42.4 


1868 . 

38.5 

40.1 

39.6 

41.4 

46.8 

53.4 

56.7 

61.7 

57.2 

52.0 

47.1 

44. 6 


1869 . 

41.0 

42.1 

40.3 

42. 4 

46.2 

48. 0 

53.4 

56.8 

53. 8 














Mean .... 

39.7 

41.1 

39.9 

41.9 

46.5 

50.7 

i 55.3 

i 59.3 

56.2 

51.2 

46. 7 

43.5 

47. 5 


Torungen, Latitude 58° 24' N., Longitude 8° 48' E. of Greenwich. 


1867 . 







59. 0 

62. 4 

58.1 

51. 4 

45. 7 

38.3 

41.2 


1868 . 

32.2 

37.2 

37.6 

39.9 

48.4 

56.5 

64.8 

66.0 

58.3 

52.0 

45.7 


1869 . 

37.0 

39.5 

34.9 

41.7 

48.4 

’ 55.0 

59.5 

60.3 

57.2 

51.8 



.. 

Mean .... 

34.6 

38.4 

36.3 

40.8 

48.4 

55.7 

61.1 

62.9 

57.8 

51.8 

45.7 

39.7 

47.7 


Lister, Latitude 58° 6' N., Longitude 6° 34' E. of Greenwich. 


1867 . 







58.6 

61.2 

57.2 

51.1 

46. 0 

40.1 


1868 . 

36.3 

41.0 

41.2 

44.6 

51.6 

54.5 

62.8 

64.4 

56.7 

51.4 

45.3 

41.7 


1869 .’. 

38.7 

40.6 

39.0 

43.2 

48.4 

52.5 

57.6 

59.4 

56.5 





Mean .... 

37.5 

40.8 

40.1 

43.9 

50.0 

53.5 

59.7 

61.7 

56. 8 

51.2 

45.6 

40.9 

48.4 


Lindnesnes, Latitude 

57° 59 

' N., Longitude 7° 

3' E. < 

of Greenwich. 


1868 . 

37.2 

39.9 

39.2 

42.4 

49. 6 

52.2 

61.0 

64.0 

58.1 

53.6 

47.3 

43.2 


1839 . 

39.9 

40.1 

37.8 

42.1 

45.7 

50.7 

55.6 

59.4 

57.2 





Mean .... 

38.6 

40.0 

38.5 

42.2 

47.6 

51.4 

58.3 

61.7 

57.6 

53.6 

! 47.3 

43.2 

48.2 



















































































































































15 


Of equal importance with the observations of the Scottish Meteorological 
Society are the above by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute at Chris¬ 
tiania, which has existed since 1866 under the direction of Professor Mohn, 
supported by the government. 32 The stations of the institute extend along the 
entire Norwegian coaSt, from Torungen and Lindnesnes, in the south, to Fru- 
holinen in the north, (57° 59' to 71° 5' 45" N. latitude.) Professor Mohn 
kindly sent me the above table. 33 

Since then he has published two memoirs, containing the same results, 
but only the mean values of the whole series of observations, and not the 
results of single years. 34 The observations are made once or twice, sometimes 
thrice a day; the diurnal fluctuation of the temperature of the sea does not 
exceed a few tenths of a degree. 

I copy from the first memoir (p. 7) the following table of the annual 
means of the temperature of the sea, from the observations of the Norwegian 
Institute and the Scottish Meteorological Society: 


Stations. 

Winter. 

Spring. 

Summer. 

Autumn. 

Year. 

Difference 
of warmest 

and coldest 

month. 


o 

o 

o 

c 

o 

o 

Stykkisholmr. 

33.8 

34.5 

48.2 

43.3 

39.8 

19.3 

Reikiavik. 

33.8 

37.4 

49.3 

42.8 

40.8 

18.9 

Tliorskavn.. 

42. 8 

42.4 

48.4 

46.8 

45.1 

8.8 

Sand wick. 

46.0 

44.8 

52.9 

52.5 

49.1 

11.7 

Stornoway-.. 

44.8 

46.6 

54.3 

51.6 

49.3 

11.5 

Harris. 

• 44 . 8 

45.3 

54.0 

51.4 

48.9 

12.1 

Oban. 

44.6 

44.6 

53.1 

52.3 

48.6 

12.6 

Soa near Oban 

j. 


53.1 




Otter-house. 

44.6 

45.7 

54.1 . 

51.4 

48.9 

12.1 

West Haven. 

42.1 

46.8 

57.2 

50.7 

48.9 

17.3 

North Berwick. 

41.5 

44.8 

54.1 

50.7 

47.8 

14.6” 

Dunbar. 

41.2 

44.8 

54.7 

50.7 

47.8 

15.8 

Fruliolmen . 

37.8 

36.1 

45.7 

43.7 

41.2 

11.2 

Andennes. 

34.0 

38.7 

50. 7 

42.4 

41.5 

18.7 

Villa. 

35.4 

40.6 

53.1 

45. 0 

43.5 

20.2 

Ona. 

42.3 

41.2 

51. 6 

49.6 

46.2 

15.8 

Helliso. 

42.3 

42.4 

53.1 

51.4 

47.3 

17.3 

Udsire. 

41.4 

42.8 

55.0 

51.4 

47.8 

19.3 

Lister... 

39.7 

44.8 

58.3 

51.4 

48.6 

24.3 

Lindnesnes. 

40.8 

42.8 

57.0 

52.7 

' 48.4 

23.2 

Torungen... 

37.6 

41.7 

59.9 

51.8 

47. 8. 

28.3 


































16 


From the second memoir of Mohn, “Oversigt, I take the follow¬ 

ing table of the means of the observations made hitherto of the temperature 
of the air: 

Position , &c., of the Norwegian meteorological stations. 


Stations. 

Latitude N. 

Longitude E. of 
Greenwich. 

Elevation above 
the sea. 

Number of years. 

Stations. 

Latitude N. 

Longitude E. of 

Greenwich. 

Elevation above 

the sea. 

Number of years. 


o / 

o / 

Feet. 



o / 

o / 

Feet. 


Varrln ___ 

70 22 

31 07 

7 

2 

Bergen. 

60 24 

5 20 

8 

7 

Haramerfest -. 

70 40 

23 40 


6 

Ullenswang. 

60 19 

6 39 


25 

Kofjord .. 

69 57 

23 02 

12 

12 

Skudesnaes. 

59 09 

5 16 

6 

7 

Tromso. 

69 39 

18 58 

7 

1 

Mandal. 

58 02 

7 27 

9 

7 

Bodd. 

67 17 

14 24 

4 

4 

Sanddsund. 

59 05 

10 27 

7 

7 

Ytteroen. 

63 49 

11 14 

17 

4 

Christiania observ¬ 





Christiansund .... 

63 07 

7 45 

11 

2 

atory . 

59 55 

10 43 

12 

31 

Aalesund. 

62 29 

6 09 

5 

2 

Dovre. 

62 05 

9 07 

343 

4 


Temperature of the air , monthly mean. 


Stations. 

§ 

3 . 

Pm 

March. 

April. 

May. 

June. 


August. 

September. 

October. 

November. 

December. 

Annual mean. 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Vardo. 

18.5 

19.8 

23.2 

28.8 

34.9 

41.4 

47.3 

48.2 

41.5 

34.7 

26.1 

21.6 

32.2 

Hammerfest .. 

22.6 

22.3 

26.1 

30.2 

37.6 

46.0 

53.1 

50.5 

44.8 

36.1 

31.3 

24.3 

35.4 

Kafjord. 

18.3 

15.4 

20.3 

29.7 

39.2 

47.7 

54. 3 

54.3 

44.1 

32.0 

24.6 

21.9 

33.6 

Tromso. 

21.7 

20.1 

25.0 

30.6 

38.3 

47.7 

48.6 

49.6 

44.1 

37.4 

35.6 

23.5 

35.1 

Bodd. 

26.6 

26.8 

29.3 

34.0 

41.4 

50.0 

54.5 

54.1 

48.6 

40.6 

32.9 

27.5 

38.7 

Ytteroen. 

25.0 

26.1 

28.6 

36. .0 

47.5 

53.1 

55.8 

55.8 

51.1 

41.5 

33.1 

27.1 

40.1 

Christiansund. 

33.8 

32.7 

34.2 

39.0 

45.0 

52.5 

54.7 

55.4 

52.3 

44.4 

38.1 

36.1 

43.2 

Aalesund. 

35.1 

34.2 

35.1 

39.9 

45.0 

52.2 

54.5 

55.4 

52.7 

45.3 

39.2 

37.8 

43.9 

Bergen. 

32.7 

31.8 

35.1 

40.8 

49.1 

55.8 

58.1 

57.4 

53.6 

45.3 

38.1 

35.6 

44.4 

Ullenswang_ 

30.6 

32.4 

34.2 

42.4 

52.0 

57.6 

62.4 

60.4 

53.6 

45.5 

36.5 

32.5 

45.1 

Skudesnaes ... 

34.7 

34.0 

35.4 

39.9 

47.3 

53.8 

55.4 

57. 3 

54.0 

46.8 

40.3 

37.6 

44.8 

Mansal. 

30.9 

30.6 

33.8 

39.4 

48.4 

55.8 

58.8 

58.1 

52.9 

45.1 

37.8 

34.2 

43.9 

Sanddsund.... 

28.6 

28.0 

31.6 

39.4 

49.3 

57.9 

61.2 

60.6 

55.0 

45.3 

37.0 

32. 0 

43.7 

Christiania_ 

22.8 

23.0 

28.9 

38.7 

49.7 

58.6 

61.7 

59.4 

52.3 

41.6 

31.6 

25.5 

41 2 

Dovre. 

14.5 

17.4 

20.3 

30.4 

39.6 

48.6 

52.0 

50.5 

41.9 

32.5 

25.0 

17.8 

w 

to 


Compared with these valuable and meritorious labors of the Scottish 
Society and the Norwegian Government, hardly anything has been done in 







































































17 


the same field in the other parts of Europe. There are to be found in the 
various text-books of Professor Dove the following: 36 

Means of observations of the temperature of the water in the Baltic Sea. 


Stations. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

% 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

O ' 

o 

c 

o 

o 

o 

Copenhagen. 

34.5 

33.8 

35.6 

40.6 

50.5 

58.6 

62.4 

64.4 

58.3 

50.5 

43.3 

37.8 

Doberan. 

35.1 

34.2 

35.1 

43.0 

49.3 

57.6 

64.4 

65.1 

60.6 

55.2 

46.8 

38.7 

Revel. 

30.9 

31.1 

31.6 

31.6 

42.6 

53.1 

57.7 

61.5 

55.4 

43.3 

38.3 

34.3 


At Kiel Messrs. Meyer and Mobius have made from June 23, 1863, to 
June 29, 1864, interesting observations of the temperature of the sea on the 
surface and in depths of from 5 to 16 fathoms. 37 The monthly means of the 
surface temperatures are: 


Station. 

Jan. 

Feb. Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 


o 

o o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Kiel. 

32.0 

32.0 34.9 

41.5 

45.5 

61.0 

64.2 

62.6 

58.3 

54.1 

46.0 

40.6 


The observations at Copenhagen extend over five to eight years, those 
at Doberan over four and one-third years, (twice daily,) and those at Revel, 
according to Wesselowsky, through the years 1847, 1849, and 1850. 

The temperatures for the extreme months, at a few points of the East 
Atlantic Ocean, as far north as the Shetland Islands, by Dana, 38 are but 
roughly approximating values, and cannot be taken into account in connec¬ 
tion with the numerous precise observations extant for that region. 

Mr. Yon Freeden, the director of the North German “Seewarte,” writes 
in regard to the sea temperature near the coasts of the German Sea and the 
Baltic, as follows: 

Nothing is known of the temperature of the sea on our northern coasts. Sum¬ 
mer temperatures may probably be obtained from the administration of the sea-batli at 
Norderney; they are, at least, noted there on a black-board during the season at each 
flood, but I do not know whether the record is preserved. I believe that since new- 
year, also at the Bremen light-house a record is kept of the temperature of the sea, but 
I am not sure of it. 39 

It is indeed time that “ scientific Germany” should, in regard to meteoro¬ 
logical observations, not lag behind Norway, Scotland, and Iceland. 

The Danish marine department, since August 1868, has directed that 
3 



































18 


regular observations be made on the five light-vessels stationed in the Katte¬ 
gat and in the sound; until now they were made in all the months except 
December, January, and February, but at the request of Dr. E. Loftier, in 
Copenhagen, observations will hereafter be made also during the three winter 
months. The temperature of the water and of the air, the direction of the 
current and the winds are observed five times daily. The following monthly 
means, obtained from the original records of the marine department, have 
kindly been communicated to me by Dr. Loftier: 40 

Sea temperature observed at the Danish light-vessels in the Kattegat and in the Sound. 


Stations. 

Latitude. 

Longitude E. of 
Greenwich. 

March. 

April. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

September. 

October. 

November. 


o / 

o / 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Trindelen. 

57 26 

11 17 

35.6 

41.7 

48.4 

53.8 

59.9 

61.5 

57.0 

51.4 

43.0 

Laso Rende. 

57 13 

10 42 

37.4 

43.7 

51.1 

55.8 

61.9 

62.6 

59.2 

53.6 

43.2 

Kobbergr unden. 

57 08 

11 21 

35.1 

41.2 

48.0 

53.1 

60.4 

62.1 

57.0 

51.1 

41.9 

Knoben. 

56 46 

11 51 

37.0 

43.4 

50.9 

55.8 



58. 3 

52.0 


Drogden . 

55 33 

12 44 

35.4 

41.7 

49.6 

54.1 

59.2 

59.0 

56.3 

50.9 

42.4 


Dr. Loftier contemplates making observations in Danish waters in the 
summer of 1870. 

With the Danish observations begin the series of those which do not 
extend over all the months of the entire year, but only principally over the 
summer half of the year. In enumerating them, I shall confine myself par¬ 
ticularly to those referring to the month of July, the subject of Chart No. 1. 

General navigation ceases, on the average, with the 50th degree of 
northern latitude; only a few ships’ courses go beyond it. Toward the 60th 
degree we find the courses between the Danish Colonies in West Greenland 
and their mother country, and then again the many courses of the British 
expeditions of discovery to Baffin’s Bay, both of which sources furnish valu¬ 
able contributions toward the knowledge of the ocean. But between them 
and Maury’s figures remains a wide belt, for which hitherto observations 
have been wanting; the tables below cover this gap for the first time. 

The vessels of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company sail from the 
north of Ireland, on the great circle, to the Belle-Isle Straits, and thus tra¬ 
verse a space not reached by other vessels. There are two termini of this 

























19 


steamship line in Europe; both branches of the society have, with great 
kindness, caused tables to be constructed of the temperature observations 
from the records of their vessels, which were furnished me. 

On board of the ships of the Liverpool-Montreal line the temperature of 
the sea is observed: from Liverpool to the 40th degree west of Greenwich, 
that is in about two-thirds of the eastern part of the ocean, once a day, at 
noon; from 40° N. to the St. Lawrence each hour, or 24 times a day. 


Daily means of the temperature of the sea from the observations on board of the vessels of 
the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company , between Liverpool and Montreal, on 34 trips , 
from the loth of May to the 29th of October , 18G9. 41 


Steamer. 

4 LIVERPOOL TO 

MONTREAL. 


MONTREAL 

TO LIVERPOOL. 


Date. 

© 

ci 

©1 

£ 

© 

'Sc 

© 

H-l 

© 

‘S 

d 

© 

© 

© 

O 

«© 

O 

© 

© 

-© 

ci 

© 

ft 

£ 

© 

EH 

Date. 

© 

d 

'-+3 

ci 

©3 

£ 

© 

’Sc 

c 

© 

V 

d 

© 

© 

© 

O 

e© 

© 

© 

© 

d 

-© 

ci 

© 

© 

ft 

£ 

© 

EH 


1869. 

o 

/ 

O 

/ 

o 

1869. 

o 

/ 

o 

/ 

o 

Nestorian. 

July 

10 

56 

1 

11 

37 

55 

Aug. 

1 

49 

14 

64 

13 

54 


July 

11 

56 

32 

20 

9 

52 

Aug. 

2 

50 

42 

58 

2 

52 


July 

12 

56 

22 

27 

8 

53 

Aug. 

3 

52 

40 

51 

19 

43 


July 

13 

55 

52 

35 

9 

51 

Aug, 

4 

54 

31 

43 

40 

49 


July 

14 

55 


42 

30 

49 

Aug. 

5 

55 

30 

34 

53 

54 


July 

15 

53 

18 

49 

43 

47 

Aug. 

6 

55 

50 

25 

45 

55 


July 

16 

51 

48 

55 

41 

43 

Aug. 

7 

55 

47 

16 

46 

56 


July 

17 

48 

57 

62 

4 

54 

Aug. 

8 

55 

17 

8 

25 

57 


Aug. 

21 

55 

54 

12 

56 

57 

Sept. 

13 

50 

31 

58 

27 

52 


Aug. 

22 

56 

17 

21 

51 

57 ' 

Sept. 

14 

52 

42 

51 

36 

43 


Aug. 

23 

56 

2 

29 

22 

55 

Sept. 

15 

54 

30 

43 

52 

49 


Aug. 

24 

55 

17 

38 

38 

50 

Sept. 

16 

55 

38 

37 

15 

50 


Aug. 

25 

53 

48 

47 

13 

51 

Sept. 

17 

55 

31 

30 

54 

50 


Aug. 

26 

51 

52 

55 

10 

47 

Sept. 

18 

55 

42 

24 

53 

54 


Aug. 

27 

49 

6 

61 

36 

53 

Sept. 

19 

55 

34 

16 

8 

55 









Sept. 

20 

55 

25 

7 

49 

51 

Peruvian . 

July 

3 

55 

55 

13 

3 

59 

July 

25 

49 

12 

66 

38 

60 


July 

4 

55 

43 

22 

14 

58 

July 

26 

49 

44 

59 

51 

56 


July 

5 

55 

43 

32 

2 

56 

July 

27 

51 

33 

56 

14 

45 


July 

6 

54 

47 

41 

29 

47 

July 

28 

52 

22 

50 

38 

46 


July 

7 

53 

7 

49 

56 

47 

July 

29 

53 

42 

43 

54 

50 


July 

8 

51 


57 

48 

43 

July 

30 

54 

44 

35 

38 

52 


July 

9 

49 

50 

64 

57 

53 

July 

31 

55 

36 

27 

7 

54 









Aug. 

1 

55 

18 

18 

28 

54 









Aug. 

2 

55 

27 

9 

50 

55 

























20 


Daily means of ike temperature of the sea , &c. —Continued. 


Steamer. 

LIVERPOOL TO 

MONTREAI 


MONTREAL TO 

LIVERPOOL. 

Date. 

Latitude. 

Longitude W. 

of Greenwich. 

Temperature. 

Date. 

Latitude. 

£ 

‘So 

►3 

© 

© 

<o 

O 

S+H 

O 

c3 


1869. 

o 

/ 

o 

/ 

o 

1869. 

o 

/ 

c 

/ 

o 

Peruvian —Continued . 

Aug. 14 

55 

46 

12 

42 

55 

Sept. 5 

49 

14. 

64 

28 

49 


Aug. 15 

55 

59 

19 

48 

56 

Sept. 6 

50 

57 

57 

50 

54 


Aug. 16 

55 

52 

26 

25 

56 

Sept. 7 

52 

16 

51 

15 

48 


Aug. 17 

55 

49 

33 

53 

53 

Sept. 8 

53 

24 

43 


53 


Aug. 18 

54 

54 

41 


54 

Sept. 9, 

54 

41 

35 

7 

52 


Aug. 19 

53 

35 

48 

4 

50 

Sept. 10 

55 

45 

27 

8 

53 


Aug. 20 

51 

48 

54 

49 

48 

Sept. 11 

55 

34 

18 

33 

55 


Aug. 21 

49 

5 

61 

18 

56 

Sept. 12 

55 

24 

9 

51 

54 

Moravian. 

June 19 

5y> 

24 

12 

39 

53 

July 11 

49 

16 

64 

47 

56 


June 20 

55 

12 

20 

45 

56 

July 12 

50 

42 

58 

18 

48 


June 21 

55 

6 

28 

57 

54 

July 13 

52 

42 

51 

31 

41 


June 22 

54 

36 

37 

21. 

51 

July 14 

54 

13 

43 

33 

51 


June 23 

53 

36 

44 

55 

49 

July 15 

55 

7 

35 

59 

52 


June 24 

52 

21 

52 

44 

38 

July 16 

55 

35 

27 

57 

56. 


June 25 

51 

50 

55 

30 

38 

July 17 

55 

28 

19 

48 

57 


June 20 

49 

1 

61 

25 

48 

July 18 

55 

28 

11 

32 

57 


July 31 

55 

33 

12 

43 

57 

Aug. 22 

49 

16 

64 

55 

52 


Aug. 1 

55 

47 

19 

57 

57 

Aug. 23 

50 

33 

58 

32 

55 


Aug. 2 

56 

2 

28 

40 

56 

Aug. 24 

52 

21 

53 

4 

45 


Aug. 3 

55 

41 

36 

58 

53 

Aug. 25 

53 

37 

46 

15 

51 


Aug. 4 

54 

22 

45 

17 

*52 

Aug. 26 

54 

38 

38 

51 

52 


Aug. 5 

52 

33 

52 

26 

47 

Aug. 27 

55 

28 

31 

52 

49 


Aug. 6 

50 

14 

59 

3 

52 

Aug. 28 

55 

28 

26 

1 

56 


Aug. 7 

49 

19 

66 

3 

51 

Aug. 29 

55 

49 

20 

40 

57 








Aug. 30 

55 

30 

13 

27 

58 

Hibernian. 

May 15 

55 

22 

13 

1 

56 

June 6 

49 

20 

65 

10 

48 


May 16 

55 

1 

20 

14 

54 

June 7 

47 

23 

58 

55 

41 


May 17 

54 

4 

28 

28 

51 

June 8 

46 

43 

52 

49 

40 


May 18 

52 

29 

36 

6 

46 

June 9 

48 

31 

48 

21 

42 


May 19 

50 

36 

43 

21 

52 

June 10 

50 

28 

42 

40 

53 


May 20 

48 

9 

48 

21 

35 

June 11 

52 

13 

37 

1 

52 


May 21 

46 

25 

53 

16 

34 

June 12 

53 

22 

30 

20 

54 


May 22 

46 

59 

58 

16 

40 

June 13 

54 


22 

20 

56 


May 23 

49 

7 

64 

22 

39 

June 14 

54 

49 

14 


54 


May 24 

47 

57 

69 

31 

40 








June 26 

56 

7 

12 

9 

56 

July 18 

49 

45 

65 

3 

53 





















































4 


21 


Daily means of the temperature of the sea , &c. —Continued. 


Steamer. 


LIVERPOOL TO 

MONTREAL, 



MONTREAL TO ! 

LIVERPOOL, 


Date. 

Latitude. 

£ 

© 

■+3 

‘Sc 

o 

of Greenwich. 

© 

<D 

Ph 

p 

<3 

H 

Date. 

Latitude. 

£ 

© 

CJO 

a 

o 

of Greenwich. 

Temperature. 


1869. 

o 

/ 

o 

/ 

o 

1889. 

o 

/ 

o 

/ 

o 

Hibernian—Continued. 

June 

27 

56 

48 

20 

26 

57 

July 

19 

50 

33 

58 

35 

52 


June 

28 

56 

41 

29 

3 

54 

July 

20 

52 

24 

53 

33 

44 


June 

29 

56 

10 

37 


50 

July 

21 

53 

24 

47 

7 

51 

• 

June 

30 

54 

41 

45 

35 

47 

July 

22 

54 

20 

39 

56 

52 


July 

1 

52 

52 

52 

49 

36 

July 

23 

55 


32 

12 

53 


July 

2 

51 

42 

56 

10 

39 

July 

24 

55 

19 

24 

24 

55 


July 

3 

49 

49 

63 

1 

53 

July 

25 

55 

29 

17 

23 

57 


July 

4 

In the St. 

Lawrence 

52 

July 

26 

55 

20 

8 

58 

57 


Aug. 

7 

55 

57 

12 

7 

57 

Aug. 

29 

49 

40 

65 

31 

52 


Aug. 

8 

56 

24 

19 

38 

57 

Aug. 

30 

50 

23 

59 

16 

53 


Aug. 

9 

56 

25 

25 

56 

56 

Aug. 

31 

51 

50 

55 

30 

52 


Aug. 

10 

56 

6 

34 

10 

55 

Sept. 

1 

53 

15 

49 

6 

51 


Aug. 

11 

55 

8 

41 

1 

51 

Sept. 

2 

54 

42 

41 

38 

52 


Aug. 

12 

53 

56 

48 

20 

49 

Sept. 

3 

55 

•18 

33 

19 

53 


Aug. 

13 

51 

53 

I 53 

34 

45 

Sept. 

4 

55 

57 

25 

3 

55 


Aug. 

14 

50 


59 

35 

55 

Sept. 

5 

55 

57 

17 

3 

57 


Aug. 

15 

49 

20 

! 65 


55 

Sept. 

6 

55 

24 

9 

1 

58 

Austrian.. 

June 

12 

55 

42 

12 

19 

52 

July 

4 

49 

19 

65 

55 

49 


June 

13 

56 

3 

20 

18 

53 

July 

5 

50 


59 

28 

49 


June 

14 

56 

8- 

28 


52 

July 

6 

52 

6 

53 

23 

40 


June 

15 

55 

42 

! 36 

20 

51 

July 

7 

53 

15 

47 

18 

50 


June 

16 

54 

7 

44 

5 

50 

July 

8 

54 

15 

39 

55 

50 


June 

17 

52 

51 

49 

58 

44 

July 

9 

55 

7 

32 


52 


June 

18 

51 

20 

56 

55 

42 

July 

10 

55 

47 

23 

30 

52 


June 

19 

49 

2 

63 


52 

July 

11 

55 

54 

15 

3 

54 

North American. 

July 

11 

55 

26 

7 

2 

54 

Aug. 

7 

49 

34 

60 

31 

57 


July 

12 

56 

4 

11 

19 

54 

Aug. 

8 

51 

36 

56 

24 

52 


July 

13 

56 

28 

15 

49 

55 

Aug. 

9 

53 

2 

51 

30 

48 


July 

14 

56 

53 

20 

22 

54 

Aug. 

10 

53 

55 

45 

39 

51 


July 

15 

56 

52 

25 

16 

56 

Aug. 

11 

55 

1 

39 

49 

54 


July 

16 

56 

34 

31 

27 

55 

Aug. 

12 

56 

15 

33 

57 

52 


July 

17 

56 

9 

36 

54 

52 

Aug. 

13 

56 

41 

26 

46 

56 

- 

July 

18 

55 

22 

42 

28 

48 

Aug. 

14 

56 

36 

19 

28 

57 


July 

19 

54 

11 

48 

55 

48 

Aug. 

15 

56 

1 

11 

51 

57 


July 

20 

52 

41 j 

54 

9 

42 

Aug. 

16 

Off Rathl 

in Island. 

59 


July 

21 

51 

2 

57 

45 

42 












































22 


Daily means of the temperature of the sea , dec. —Continued. 


Steamer. 

* 

LIVERPOOL TO 

MONTREAL. 


MONTREAL TO 

LIVERPOOL 


Date. 

Latitude. 

Longitude W. 

of Greenwich. 

Temperature. 

Date. 

Latitude. 

Longitude W. 

© 

P 

rt 

4) - 

© 

o 

Temperature. 


1869. 

o 

/ 

o 

/ 

o 

1869. 

o 

/ 

o 

/ 

o 

North American—Con- 

July 

22 

49 


61 

7 

53 








tinned. 

July 

23 

49 

25 

65 

50 

58 








Prussian. 

July 

17 

56 

6 

12 

34 

56 

Aug. 

9 

50 

40 

58 

30 

52 


July 

18 

56 

38 

21 

9 

57 

Aug. 

10 

52 

45 

52 

12 

48 


July 

19 

56 

22 

30 

33 

55 

Aug. 

11 

54 

30 

44 

31 

50 


July 

20 

55 

33 

39 

7 

52 

Aug. 

12 

55 

51 

36 

44 

53 


July 

21 

53 

55 

46 

26 

47 

Aug. 

13 

56 

30 

28 

5 

54 


July 

22 

52 

21 

53 

31 

44 

Aug. 

14 

56 

30 

18 

16 

56 

• 

July 

23 

49 

40 

60 

5 

43 

Aug. 

15 

55 

37 

8 

55 

57 


Aug. 

28 

56 

15 

12 

12 

58 

Sept. 

20 

49 

28 

59 

26 

50 


Aug. 

29 

56 

18 

22 


56 

Sept. 

21 

51 

15 

57 

3 

42 


Aug. 

30 

56 

18 

31 

19 

52 

Sept. 

22 

53 

6 

51 

3 

41 

* 

Aug. 

31 

55 

27 

41 

23 

50 

Sept. 

23 

54 

14 

46 

8 

48 


Sept. 

1 

54 


48 

20 

48 

Sept. 

24 

54 

50 

39 

49 

51 


Sept. 

2 

Off Belle 

Isle . 


51 

Sept. 

25 

55 

15 

31 

43 

52 


Sept. 

3 

Off Antic 

osti . 


57 

Sept. 

26 

55 

24 

24 

7 

56 









Sept. 

27 

55 

19 

17 

2 

57 









Sept. 

28 

55 

19 

9 

10 

56 

Germany. 

Aug. 

8 

55 

36 

8 

20 

59 

Sept. 

3 

49 

18 

60 

48 

54 


Aug. 

9 

56 

7 

14 

9 

58 ' 

Sept. 

4 

51 

34 

56 

27 

44 


Aug. 

10 

56 

9 

20 

30 

57 

Sept. 

5 

52 

34 

50 

2 

48 


Aug. 

11 

56 

23 

27 

50 

58 

Sept. 

6 

54 

14 

43 

22 

53 


Aug. 

12 

56 


33 

59 

56 

Sept. 

7 

55 

42 

35 

25 

52 . 


Aug. 

13 

55 

2 

40 


53 

Sept. 

'8 

56 

9 

27 

11 

57 


Aug. 

14 

54 

1 

46 

19 

52 

Sept. 

9 

55 

44 

19 

22 

59 


Aug. 

15 

52 

50 

52 

36 

43 

Sept. 

10 

55 

38 

11 

21 

59 


Aug. 

16 

51 

26 

56 

42 

50 

Sept. 

11 

54 

20 

5 

10 

56 


Aug. 

17 

48 

56 

62 

12 

57 









Sept. 

26 

55 

22 

6 

18 

56 

Oct. 

21 

49 

44 

59 

55 

44 


Sept. 

27 

56 

4 

12 

40 

56 

Oct. 

22 

52 

8 

53 

57 

40 


Sept. 

28 

56 

43 

20 

52 

55 

Oct. 

23 

53 

54 

47 

40 

51 


Sept. 

29 

56 

16 

28 

49 

54 

Oct. 

24 

54 

14 

42 

10 

51 


Sept. 

30 

55 

26 

36 

49 

50 

Oct. 

25 

55 

32 

35 

42 

49 


Oct. 

1 

54 

20 

43 

40 

50 

Oct. 

26 

55 

46 

28 

20 

53 


Oct. 

2 

53 

10 

50 

42 

49 

Oct. 

27 

55 

48 

21 

8 

54 


































23 


Daily means of the temperature of the sea , c See. —Continued. 



•LIVERPOOL 

TO 

MONTREAL. 


MONTREAL 

TO LIVERPOOL. 







o 

© 




£ 

© 

© 

Steamer. 

Date. 

© 

r?^ 


© 

r C5 

-pH 

£ 

fl 

© 

© 

rH 

O 

<+H 

c3 

Date. 

© 

r »5 


© 

© 

c3 

F-i 

© 



3 

h4 


'So 

© 


*•§ 


# Sb 

© 

F-i 

O 

| 





O 

© 

EH 



w 

o 

H 


1869. 

o 

/ 

o 

/ 

o 

1869. 

o 

/ 

o 

/ 

o 

Germany—Continued . 

Oct. 3 

51 

17 

57 

18 

45 

Oct. 28 

56 

6 

14 

10 

56 


Oct. 4 

48 

50 

62 

2 

50 

Oct. 29 

55 

28 

7 

4 

54 

Nova Scotia.__...... 

July 25 
July 26 ’ 

55 

30 

8 

32 

56 

Auer. 15 

49 

39 

60 

10 

55 


55 

29 

15 

42 

53 

Aug. 16 

57 

55 

54 

58 

54 


July 27 

56 

24 

22 

22 

55 

Aug. 17 

53 

38 

48 

34 

47 


July 28 

56 

39 

29 

15 

52 

Aug. 18 

54 

40 

41 

46 

47 


July 29 

56 

15 

35 

34 

50 

Aug. 19 

55 

45 

34 

35 

47 


July 30 

55 

7 

42 

5 

46 

Aug. 20 

55 

54 

26 

38 

52 


July 31 

53 

45 

49 

6 

48 

Aug. 21 

55 

57 

19 

21 

54 


Aug. 1 

52 

1 

54 

33 

46 

Aug. 22 

55 

41 

11 

42 

57 


Aug. 2 

50 

57 

57 

37 

49 








Aug. 3 

49 


62 

34 

57 








Sept. 6 

55 

52 

13 

52 

56. 

Sept. 26 

49 

15 

66 

15 

60 


Sept. 7 

56 

10 

20 

36 

54 

Sept. 27 

50 

50 

59 

45 

61 


Sept. 8 

56 

20 

27 

21 

54 

Sept. 28 

52 

14 

54 

3 

40 


Sept. 9 

55 

50 

34 

23 

49 

Sept. 29 

54 

28 

47 

22 

50 


Sept. 10 

55 

10 

41 

22 

48 

Sept. 30 

55 

31 

40 

16 

48 


Sept. 11 

53 

41 

47 

54 

47 

Oct. 1 

56 

1 

33 

34 

50 


Sept. 12 

51 

47 

54 

28 

44 

Oct. 2 

56 

4 

26 

29 

53 

9 

Sept. 13 

49 

24 

60 

17 

47 

Oct. 3 

55 

54 

19 

18 

52 


Sept. 14 

49 

17 

66 

14 

53 

Oct. 4 

55 

43 

12 

7 

53 







1 

Oct. 5 

54 

38 

5 

19 

53 































24 


The following table 42 contains the observations of the temperature of sea 
and air made on board of the steamships of the Glasgow-Montreal line, on the 
average six times daily, at 4 and 8 o’clock in the forenoon, at noon, at 4 and 8 

o’clock in the afternoon, and at midnight. 

# 

Observations of the temperature of sea and air on board the vessels of the Montreal Ocean 
Steamship Company , between Glasgoiv and Montreal, from May 16 to October 25, 1869. 


Position at noon. 


Temperature of the surface of 
the sea. 


day. 

Latitude. 

Longi¬ 
tude W. of 

Greenw’li. 

Forenoon. 

Afternoon. 

4h. 

8/i. 

12 h. 

4/i. 

8 h. 

12 h. 

1869. 

O ' 

o / 

o 

o 

o 

o 

O 

o 

May 16 

47 31 

43 20 




41 

42 

42 

May 17 

47 14 

48 28 

40 

42 

45 

35 

36 


May 18 

46 25 

53 40 

36 

36 

36 

35 

35 

35 

May 19 

46 35 

57 6 

35 

36 

36 

41 

38 

36 

May 20 

48 11 

61 6 

35 

36 





Monthly 

means ... 
















June 2 

46 28 

55 12 

43 

38 

38 




June *3 

47 40 

50 27 

39 

38 

38 

39 



June 4 

49 37 

45 17 

41 

42 

41 

46 

57 

55 

June 30 

55 21 

39 19 




47 

51 


Monthly 

means ... 








July 1 

54 46 

45 29 

48 

48 

47 

47 

49 

46 

July 2 

53 22 

50 53 

48 

47 

46 

39 

38 

38 

July 3 

52 5 

54 34 

41 

39 

41 

44 

49 

40 

July 19 

52 2 

53 40 

40 

37 

43 

44 

43 

40 

July 20 

52 45 

47 38 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

51 

July 21 

53 55 

41 58 

51 

52 

52 

51 

50 

51 

July 2 

55 37 

8 21 

52 

54 

55 

56 

55 

58 

July 3 

55 26 

16 15 

58 

60 

61 

68 

61 

. . 

July 4 

55 25 

22 10 

60 



61 

60 

61 

July 5 

55 41 

29 31 

60 

60 

58 

59 

58 

54 

July 6 

55 3 

39 2 

59 

53 

51 

52 

50 

.... 

July 7 

53 25 

43 52 

50 

51 

50 

56 

52 

50 

July 8 

55 6 

49 40 

50 

48 

45 

44 

44 

44 

July 9 

51 46 

55 5 

44 

44 

46 

48 

46 

44 

July 10 

49 50 

59 50 

51 

52 

56 

54 

54 

54 

July 11 

49 8 

64 20 

56 

53 

54 

56 

57 

53 

July 12 

48 48 

69 45 

52 

50 

53 

52 

54 

.... 

July 13 

Off Queb 

ec. 

62 

63 

63 












Daily 



37.9 


39.6 
38.5 
46.8 
49.1 


43. 


47.5 

42.6 
42.3 

41.2 

49.3 

51.1 
55.0 

61.7 

60.4 

58.1 
52.9 

51.8 
45.7 

45.3 

53.6 

54.7 

52.3 
62.6 


Temperature of the air. 


Forenoon. 


Afternoon. 


4 h. 

8/i. 

12/t. 

o 

o 

O 

40 

38 

44 

39 

39 

37 

36 

37 

37 

36 

35 


43 

38 

38 

40 

41 

42 

37 

38 

40 




50 

47 

49 

45 

46 

47 

45 

39 

40 

41 

43 

44 

45 

46 

48 

48 

49 

50 

52 

56 

56 

56 

58 

64 

60 



59 

59 

58 

51 

53 

53 

50 

51 

50 

46 

46 

43 

44 

44 

50 

50 

54 

54 

58 

58 

61 

58 

55 

58' 

60 

60 

60 


o 

50 

35 

40 

45 


40 

45 

50 


49 

45 

45 
43 
48 
51 
56 
60 
64 
58 

54 
56 

46 
48 

55 
58 
58 


8h. 12 h. 


O 

47 

39 

39 

36 


46 

54 


49 
40 
42 
44 
47 

50 
56 
62 
59 
58 
53 
52 
44 
42 
52 
58 
58 


o 

45 

38 

36 

36 


50 


46 

40' 

39 

40 

48 

51 
60 

58 

54 

50 

50 

44 

49 

52 
57 


Daily 

mean. 


o 

47.3 
39.0 

38.3 
37.9 

35.4 


39.7 


39.6 
40.8 

42.6 
52.0 


43.7 


48.4 
43.9 

41.7 

42.6 

47.1 

49.8 

56.1 

60.4 

60.1 

57.6 
52.3 

51.6 

44.8 

46.2 

52.9 

58.3 
57. 4 

59.9 


* Passed iceberg. 













































































25 


Observations of the temperature of sea and air , &e. —Continued. 


Month mill 

Position 

at noon. 

Temperature of the surface of 
the sea. 

Temperature of the air. 

day 



Longi- 

Forenoon. 

4 

Afternoon. 


Forenoon. 

Afternoon. 




Latitude. 

tude W. of 







Daily 







Daily 











mean. 







mean. 


• 


Greenw’li. 

4 ft. 

8 ft. 

12ft. 

4ft. 

8 ft. 

12 ft. 


4ft. 

8 h. 

12ft. 

4ft. 

8ft. 

12ft. 


1869 


o / 

o / 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

July 

23 

49 17 

66 18 




57 

57 


57.0 




58 

58 


58.1 

July 

24 

49 18 

61 5 

58 

60 

61 

62 

57 

55 

59.0 

58 

58 

62 

60 

54 

54 

57.6 

July 

25 

51 21 

56 58 

54 

53 

50 

48 

56 

46 

51.6 

54 

51 

44 

52 

59 

50 

51.6 

July 

26 

51 18 

57 11 

52 

50 

.... 

52 

46 

44 

48.9 

54 

50 

.... 

56 

56 

50 

53.1 

July 

27 

51 20 

57 12 

50 



48 

52 

52 

50.4 

46 



55 

54 

48 

50.7 

July 

28 

52 

52 35 

48 

5(T 

48 

46 

44 

48 

47.3 

50 

48 

48 

46 

48 

48 

48.0 

July 

29 

52 16 

48 4 

48 

50 

53 

55 

56 

58 

53.4 

48 

50 

52 

53 

52 

52 

51.1 

July 

30 

52 48 

42 43 

54 

54 

55 

55 

56 

51 

53.4 

51 

52 

55 

55 

52 

50 

52.5 

July 

31. 

53 30 

36 55 

54 

54 

53 

53 

53 

53 

53.4 

52 

52 

52 

51 

50 

50 

51.1 

Mon tbl v 

means_ 








51.8 







52.0 

Auir. 

1 

54 18 

31 18 

54 

56 

56 

56 



55.6 

52 

54 

55 

58 



54.7 

Aug. 

2 

54 39 

25 18 

58 

58 

58 

58 

60 

58 

58.3 

54 

55 

58 

60 

58 

58 

57.4 

Aug. 

3 

54 13 

18 42 

58 

58 

58 

58 

60 

58 

58.3 

56 

58 

60 

58 

58 

58 

58.1 

Aug. 

4 

54 38 , 

12 29 

58 

58 

58 

60 

58 

57 

58.1 

58 

60 

60 

60 

58 

58 

59.0 

Auer. 

5 

55 20 

6 28 

59 

57 

60 

58 



58.6 

58 

58 

60 

58 



58.6 

Aug. 

6 

52 52 

49 58 

50 

50 . 


48 

46 

44 

47.5 

52 

52 

53 

56 

48 

60 

53.4 

Aug. 

*7 

51 51 

54 5 

46 

46 

.... 

46 

47 

56 

48.0 

48 

49 

54 

54 

52 

52 

51.6 

Auu'. 

8 

50 4 

59 50 




52 



52. 0 




53 



52.9 

Aug. 

23 

51 44 

53 19 

48 

46 

48 

46 

45 

47 

46.6 

48 

46 

48 

46 

43 

46 

46.2 

An 

24 

52 14 

48 

48 

50 

52 




50. 0 

45 

49 

52 




48.6 

Aii o'. 

12 

N. of Ire 

land 

58 

56 

59 

58 


57. 9 








Aug. 

13 

54 48 

12 44 

59 

60 


60 

59 


59.9 

59 

60 

- - - - 

60 

60 

.... 

59.7 

Aug. 

14 . 

54 11 

18 15 

58 

61 

60 

61 

60 

.... 

59.5 

59 

60 

62 

61 

60 

.... 

60.4 

Aug. 

15 

54 37 

23 18 

59 

60 


60 

59 

59 

59.8 

61 

61 

.... 

60 

60 

60 

60.1 

Aug: 

16 

53 

28 46 

59 

59 

.... 

59 

58 

.... 

58.8 

59 

61 

.... 

60 

60 

.... 

59.9 

Aug. 

17 

51 58 

33 33 

59 

58 

59 

59 

58 

56 

57. 9 

59 

59 

51 

60 

59 

52 

56.5 

Aug. 

18 

50 57 

38 22 

57 

60 

.... 

60 

60 

60 

59.2 

55 

57 

.... 

56 

55 

55 

55.6 

A nor 

20 

48 01 

49 42 

52 

53 

55 

55 



53.6 

52 

52 

52 

53 



52.3 

A n o’ 

21 

Off St. Jo 

lins* 


52 



52.0 




52 



52.0 

A11 or 

22 

46 26 

53 30 

52 



54 

61 


55.6 

52 



56 

58 


55.4 

Aug. 

23 

47 44 

60 15 

61 

60 

.... 

60 

58 

56 

59.0 

58 

59 

.... 

60 

56 

58 

58.3 

Aug. 

24 

49 21 

65 15 

54 

54 

.... 

54 

52 

.... 

53.6 

53 

56 

.... 

56 

54 

.... 

54.7 

Aug. 

20 

N. of Ire 

land. 

60 

59 

59 

59 

59 

59 

59.2 

60 

61 

61 

60 

59 

57 

59.7 

Aug. 

21 

56 18 

16 26 

59 

58 

57 

59 

60 

59 

58.6 

57 

56 

59 

59 

58 

57 

57.6 

Aug. 

22 

56 55 

23 52 

59 

59 

58 

59 

58 

58 

58.6 

59 

59 

60 

60 

56 

57 

, 58.6 

Aug. 

23 

56 48 

30 23 

56 

56 

56 

55 

55 

54 

55.4 

54 

55 

57 

54 

52 

50 

53.6 

Aug. 

24 

55 13 

37 59 

52 

51 

51 

51 

52 

.... 

51.4 

50 

48 

49 

47 

47 

.... 

48.2 


* Passed iceberg. 


4 




































































26 


Observations of the temperature of sea and air , &e. —Continued. 


TVfmvf.Ti nrnl 

Position at noon. 

Temperature of the surface of 
the sea. 

Temperature of the air. 

daj 



Longi- 

Forenoon. 

Afternoon. 


Forenoon. 

Afternoon. 




Latitude. 

tude W. of 







Daily 







Daily 












mean. 







mean. 




Orreenwn. 

4ft. 

8 ft. 

12ft. 

4 ft. 

8 ft. 

12ft- 


4ft. 

8ft. 

12ft. 

4ft. 

8ft. 

12ft. 


1869. 

o / 

o 

/ 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Aug. 

25 

54 43 

44 58 

50 

51 

51 

50 

51 

51 

50.7 

46 

47 

53 

54 

50 

48 

49.6 

Au e;. 

*26 

52 53 

51 

6 

51 

51 

49 

46 

49. 

48 

49.3 

50 

52 

62 

48 



52.9 

Aug. 

27 

51 6 

57 

9 

47 

42 

47 

54 

52 

52 

49.1 

49 

48 

50 

56 

53 

52 

51.4 

Aug. 

28 

49 4 

62 50 

52 

52 

52 

56 

56 

.... 

53.6 

51 

52 

54 

64 

-57 

.... 

55.6 

Au er. 

29 

Off Queb 

ec. 


55 

55 

56 




55.4 

57 

57 

62 




58.6 

Monthly 

means_ 








55.0 







55. 2 

Sept. 

4 

49 00 

62 

18 

48 

56 


58 

56 , 

54 

54.5 

50 

56 


56 

54 

•55 

54.3 

Sept. 

5 

50 50 

57 

38 

51 

54 

.... 

49 

45 

48 

49.3 

52 

55 

.... 

54 

49 

48 

51.6 

Sept. 

6 

52 10 

52 

5 

46 



52 

50 


49.3 

49 



48 

49 


48. 6 

Sept. 

7 

53 5 

46 

20 

52 

51 

.... 

54 

53 

54 

52.7 

50 

50 


55 

54 

52 

52.3 

Sept. 

8 

53 43 

40 

6 

52 

52 

.... 

54 

52 

.... 

52.5 

52 

50 

. . . . 

52 

49 

.... 

51.8 

Sept. 

9 

54 12 

33 

20 

54 

54 

.... 

54 

53 

52 

53.4 

52 

53 

.... 

57 

51 

50 

52.7 

Sept. 

10 

54 43 

26 

47 

54 

54 

.... 

56 

58 

.... 

55.6 

51 

52 

... . 

54 

56 

.... 

53.1 

Sept. 

11 

55 12 

20 

7 

56 



58 

56 


56.7 

54 



54 

52 


53. 4 

Sept. 

12 

55 39 

13 

7 

55 

57 

.... 

56 

56 

54 

55. 6 

52 

54 


53 

52 

52 

52.7 

Sept. 

13 

55 30 

7 

20 

58 






58.1 

50 






50. 0 

Sept. 

11 

49 18 

64 

48 

51 

51 

- - - . 

50 

50 

.... 

50.5 

57 

59 


52 

51 


54.7 

Sept. 

12 

49 16 

60 

45 

52 

51 

51 

51 

50 

52 

51.1 

47 

52 

54- 

52 

49 

50 

50.7 

Sept. 

13 

51 27 

56 

29 

48 

50 

49 

47 

47 

48 

48.2 

47 

54 

58 

51 

47 

45 

50.4 

Sept. 

14 

52 56 

51 

12 

47 

45 

46 

51 

50 

51 

48.2 

47 

52 

50 

48 

49 

49 

49.1 

Sept. 

15 

54 5 

44 

48 

51 

49 

42 

50 

50 

49 

48.4 

50 

49 

48 

50 

50 

50 

49.6 

Sept. 

16 

.55 4 

40 

25 

51 

51 

51 

51 

52 

52 

51.4 

50 

51 

51 

50 

50 

49 

50.2 

Sept. 

17 

54 54 

35 

40 

49 

52 

52 

52 

50 

53 

51.4 

50 

54 

52 

52 

50 

50 

51.4 

Sept. 

18 

54 44 

30 

44 

52 

54 

53 

56 

55 

54 

54.0 

48 

51 

52 

52 

50 

48 

50.2 

Sept. 

19 

55 3 

24 

16 

55 

55 

55 

56 

54 

57 

55.4 

49 

52 

56 

54 

52 

53 

52.7 

Sept. 

20 

55 33 

17 

32 

56 

56 

56 

57 

57 

57 

56.5 

50 

57 

58 

55 

53 

58 

55.2 

Sept. 

21 

53 32 

10 

13 

56 

56 

57 

57 

57 

57 

56.7 

52 

54 

62 

58 

54 

54 

55.6 

Sept. 

23 

55 45 

8 

52 

58 

54 

56 

56 

57 

57 

56.3 

49 

52 

56 

56 

57 

56 

54.3 

Sept. 

24 

55 54 

14 

38 

56 



56 

56 

56 

56.1 

57 



57 

56 

56 

56 5 

Sept. 

25 

56 4 

20 

15 

54 

54 

56 

56 



55.0 

54 

54 

56 

56 

dU, t) 

ft 

Sept. 

26 

56 16 

27 

8 

53 

56 

55 

54 

52 

52 

53.6 

51 

50 

54 

52 

49 

49 

till* V 

50.9 

Sept. 

27 

56 6 

32 

54 




52 

51 

52 

51.6 




47 

47 

Aft 

Aft ft 

Sept. 

28 

55 30 

37 

10 

50 

50 

.... 

50 

50 


50.0 

46 

46 


50 

49 


40. O 

47.7 

Sept. 

29 

54 13 

43 

30 

50 

49 

.... 

50 

52 

52 

50.4 

50 

50 

.... 

51 

51 

50 

50.4 

Sept. 

30 

53 10 

48 

12 

52 

52 

50 

50 

50 

46 

50.0 

50 

51 

47 

48 

48 

53 

49.6 

Monthly 

means ... 
















51.8 



















* Passed iceberg. 

























































27 


Observations of the temperature of sea and air , &c. —Continued. 


Month and 
day. 

Position at noon. 

• Temperature of the surface of 
the sea. 

Temperature of the air. 

Latitude. 

Longi¬ 
tude W. of 
Greenw’h. 

Forenoon. 

Afternoon. 

Daily 

mean. 

Forenoon. 

Afternoon. 

Daily 

mean. 

4 ft. 

8 ft. 

12 ft. 

4/i. 

8ft. 

12ft. 

4ft. 

8ft. 

m. 

4 ft. 

8 ft. 

12ft. 

1869. 

o / 

o . / 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

O 

o 

O 

o 

o 

Oct. 1 

52 14 

53 15 

44 

49 

.... 

41 

42 

44 

43.9 

42 

47 

.... 

40 

40 

40 

41.9 

Oct. 2 

50 14 

58 51 

46 

42 

43 

50 

50 

50 

46.8 

40 

39 

40 

49 

48 

46 

43.7 

Oct. 3 

49 8 

64 25 

50 

50 


46 



48.6 

50 

51 


46 



48.9 

Oct. 15 

49 19 

66 8 




46 

47 


46.4 




48 

50 


48.9 

Oct. 16 

49 1 

61 44 

47 

48 

50 

50 

49 

50 

49.1 

49 

51 

51 

50 

51 

51 

50.5 

Oct. 17 

51 8 

57 35 

50 

50’ 

‘ 50 

50 

48 

47 

49.1 

53 

53 

54 

53 

48 

47 

51.4 

Oct. 18 

52 25 

53 15 

44 

42 

43 

42 

38 

42 

41.7 

46 

44 

45 

46 

44 

44 

44.8 

Oct. 19 

53 44 

48 51 

43« 

49 

50 

50 

50 

51 

48.9 

44 

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49 

50 

49 

50 

48.6 

Oct. 20 

54 30 

43 10 

52 

51 

49 

50 

51 

50 

50.5 

48 

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49 

50 

51 

50 

49.6 

Oct. 21 

55 13 

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50 

50 

51 

51 

50 

52 

50.7 

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50 

50 

50 

50 

50.0 

Oct. 22 

55 18 

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54 

54 


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53 

51 

52.9 

53 

52 

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52 

50 

48 

50.9 

Oct. 24 

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54 

54 

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53 

53 

54 

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51 

51 

54 

52 

51 

52 

51.4 

Oct. 25 

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54 

54 

54 

54 

53 

53 

53.6 

53 

52 

52 

51 

50 

50 

51.4 

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means ... 








48.9 







48. 6 


















The courses of the steamers of the Grlasgow-Montreal line only, for the 
month of July, 1869, are laid down on Chart No. 1, in order to show the belt 
embraced by them; of the steamers of the other line, only the temperatures 
are noted, on account of the small scale of the chart and to avoid confusion. 

North of the belt traversed by the ships of the Montreal Ocean Steam¬ 
ship Company, there are, first, the numerous courses of English and Danish 
ships to Baffin’s Bay, but they do not cover the month of January, and 
hardly July, as they generally start from home in April and May and return 
in September and October. 

For our purposes, however, even the single course of the brilliant cruise 
of Captain Inglefield, who left Woolwich July 4, 1852, in the steam corvette 
Isabelle, of 149 tons, to assist in the search for Sir John Franklin, is of great 
value. After having sailed around Scotland, he crossed the North Atlantic, 
between'the parallels of 58° and 61°, from the 12th to the 30th of July, 
when he arrived at Cape Farewell. He kept an excellent journal, and 
observed, among other phenomena, the temperature of the surface of the sea, 
the results of which observations are laid down on Chart No. I. 44 
































28 


The journals of Danish ships going to Greenland and Iceland have been 
collected, for nearly twenty years past, by Captain (now Rear-Admiral) 
C. Irminger, who has published, at various times since 1853, in the Danish 
. “ Nautical Archives” and in German 45 and English geographical periodicals, 
his conclusions drawn from these journals in regard to currents. hen 
begging the admiral, August 31, 1869, for the latest results of his researches, 
he had the goodness to send me the memoir accompanying this, “The Tem¬ 
perature of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream,” with the follow¬ 
ing remarks: 

I wished to send you something not generally known, a description of the waters 
of a higher temperature running in bands through the North Atlantic. To construe 
the table accompanying my memoir has been quite a task, as I had to examine care¬ 
fully the various ships’ logs and to make many computations; my principal aim was 
accuracy and sureness. 46 

These bands of a higher temperature are to be found, more or less, 
where a warm and a cold current converge, as, for instance, east of Iceland; 
the two principal bands, alluded to by Admiral Irminger, in about 60° N. 
latitude, between the Shetland Islands and Cape Farewell, are doubtless the 
two convex vertexes of the Gulf Stream in that region, (compare Chart No. 1.) 
The fact that the entire sea between Scotland and Iceland consists of a great 
number of such warm and cold bands is best proved by the cruise of Lord 
Dufferin, who, sailing from Stornoway, in the Hebrides, to Reikiavik, 
between the 13th and 20th of June, 1856, observed the temperature of the 
surface of the sea each two hours, in all ninety times, and found it to change 
not less than forty-four times, or, in the average, once in 14 nautical miles, 
the change fluctuating between 52°.9 and 43°; for the most part, however, 
between 50° and 47°.8, while, on starting from Stornoway, the temperature 
was observed to be 48°, and on arriving at Iceland again 48°. 

From the concluding sentence of Admiral Irminger’s memoir, it would 
appear that he assumes the two warm bands in 60° N. latitude, which I take 
for the vertex of the Gulf Stream, to be only branches of it, and, conse¬ 
quently, that the mild winter climate of Europe is not solely attributable to 
the Gulf Stream. I shall speak of this hereafter. 

The material collected by Admiral Irminger is not nearly so extensive as 
that of Maury, Andrau, and others; but is, nevertheless, of very great value 
for the knowledge of the currents and of the temperature about Iceland and 
around the southern cape of Greenland. The data, published so far, are three 


29 


ship’s courses to Greenland and twenty to Iceland, between 1844 and 1859, 
and exclusively in the summer months, April to September. 47 To make a 
proper use ot them, they should be considered for each month separately, and 
not, as Irminger has done, by throwing together the observations for all the 
six months. It then will clearly be seen from them that, in the summer 
months, one arm of the Gulf Stream proceeds not only along the west side of 
Iceland, but-extends also around the north coast eastward up to Langenaes, 
where the polar stream sets against the coast and proceeds along the entire 
east and southeast coast, in general in a southwestern direction, between Ice¬ 
land and the Faroe Islands; while the eastern arm of the Gulf Stream keeps 
between the latter and Scotland, and thence principally turns to the north¬ 
east. Toward the fall, even in August’and September, the lateral polar cur¬ 
rent on the southeast coast of Iceland loses more and more of its preponder¬ 
ance, until the Gulf Stream occupies the entire space between Scotland and 
Iceland. 

Admiral Irminger has sent me, also, interesting notes 48 on “the ice in 
the summer of 1869,” in the region between the Shetland Islands and South 
Greenland, throughout Davis’ Strait and in Baffin’s Bay, up to Upernivik, 
(in 73° N. latitude.) He says: 

Captain Bang, during his entire passage from Denmark to Greenland and through 
Baffin’s Bay up to Upernivik, in the summer of 1869, saw no ice at all in the ocean, ex¬ 
cept a few icebergs in the vicinity of Omenak Fiord, (latitude 71° N.,) from whence 
such very frequently drift into the open sea. 

There was, in general, remarkably little ice in 1869 around Farewell, the southern¬ 
most cape of Greenland; the masters of nearly all of the nine vessels of the Boyal 
Greenland Mercantile Society, of which some make two trips annually to Greenland, 
reported having seen, except in April and May, no ice at all in the ocean up to Green¬ 
land. A year so free of ice has not happened for a long time. In 1868, on the contrary, 
the Greenland coast was encased by very great fields of ice almost all the time, which 
has not occurred for many years; four merchant vessels were compelled to winter in 
Greenland, and were detained until March and April 1869. 

On the northern and eastern coasts of Iceland, however, there was, in the summer, 
considerable ice, which did.not disappear before August. In my opinion, the ice 
encasing the north and east coasts of Iceland was but a very small part of the great 
masses which generally come each year down the east coast of Greenland and pass 
around Cape Farewell. We may expect to learn, through the German North Polar Ex¬ 
pedition, whether much or little ice has broken loose and drifted south, in 1869, from 
the Arctic. 49 

In 1869 the British government sent a scientific expedition, in her Ma¬ 
jesty’s ship Bulldog, to the Northern Sea, to examine the line between Scot¬ 
land, the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, and Labrador, for the purpose of 


30 


eventually laying a submarine telegraph; it obtained very valuable results as 
to depths, animal life in the ocean, &c.; in fact, the labors of Dr. Wallich, 
the naturalist of the expedition, mark an epoch in the natural history of ma¬ 
rine animal life. But few observations of temperature were made—about half 
a dozen; 50 the expedition, nevertheless, has added to the better knowledge 
of the Gulf Stream, as will be shown hereafter. 

Although only a pleasure trip, yet of eminent value to the knowledge of 
the entire Northern Sea, from the parallel of the German coast to the lati¬ 
tude of 80° N., is Lord Bufferin's cruise to Iceland and Spitzbergen in a sailing 
yacht of 85 tons in 1856. 51 The principal dates of this cruise are: Sailing 
from Stornoway, in the Hebrides, June 13; Reikiavik, June 20; the north¬ 
western cape of Iceland, July 9; Jan-Mayen, July 13; Hammerfest, July 
20; Bear Island, July 31; Spitzbergen, (English Bay,) August G; Dron- 
tlieim, August 26; Bergen, August 31; Copenhagen, September 10; Christian- 
sand, September 19; arrival in England, September 25. During these three 
and a half months Lord Dufferin kept an excellent journal of observations of 
the temperature of the sea and of the air, and of the weather, for each two 
hours, day and night, twelve times from noon to noon; their great value lies 
principally in the direction of the cruise—from Scotland around Iceland to 
Jan-Mayen, and thence to Hammerfest. To this day there is no other cruise 
and no other connected series of observations existing on that line. The lowest 
temperature of the sea, during this trip, was observed 70 nautical miles west of 
Bear Island, (30° ;) the highest (north of the Arctic Circle) between the 18th 
and 19th of July, in 70 i° N. latitude and 15° longitude E. of Greenwich, about 
80 nautical miles off the Scandinavian coast, (54°.) Further southward, in the 
German Sea, from Bergen to Copenhagen and from there to England, between 
the 3d and the 25tli of September, temperatures of from 51°.6 to 68°.4 are 
noted; generally, however, they were found to be between 54°.5 and 59°. 52 

The observations of Lord Dufferin, in themselves, offer so numerous 
data that they permit the construction of isothermal curves for the Northern 
Sea from 50° to 80° latitude, or from the coasts of the German Sea up to 
Spitzbergen, Iceland, Jan-Mayen, and Bear Island. Among other facts they 
demonstrate that an arm of the Gulf Stream extends along the entire west 
and north coast of Iceland, and that the cold Polar Stream penetrates at 
Bear Island far to the westward. 

For the Greenland Sea up to 80° N. observations of the temperature of 


31 * 


the sea exist since Scoresby in the beginning of this century; and Parry, in 
1827, extended them to 82|° N. These various data are represented on my 
chart of 1852, accompanying Sutherland’s book. In the construction of the 
present Chart No. 1, however, I have confined myself to the use of only the 
later and more complete series of observations which were made in 1868 by 
Koldewey and Nordenskiold, and in 1869 by Dorst and Bessels. 

Captain Koldewey, in the first German North Polar expedition in 1868, 
like Lord Dufferin, observed every two hours; his observations extend 
from May 25 to September 29, and reach from Bergen (60J N. latitude) to 
81° 04/ N. latitude; 53 but the isothermal lines, constructed from them with¬ 
out regard to other observations, would convey an erroneous impression of 
the main facts in regard to the currents and the temperature in the Northern 
Sea, as they place the source of the higher temperature southward near the 
Scandinavian coast, (as if the Gulf Stream was coming from the German 
Sea,) instead of southwestward into the Atlantic Ocean. At Spitzbergen, 
also, not only the isothermal curve of 4° Reaumur, (41° Fahrenheit,) but 
also that of 2° R. (36i° F.) is interrupted by the Polar Stream, which at the 
South Cape penetrates far to the westward. 

* Dr. Dorst, in Rosenthal’s steamer Bienenkorb, (Bee-hive,) left the 
Weser February 21, and returned August 31, 1869, during which time, not 
landing anywhere, he observed for temperature each second hour without 
any gap. The following is a copy of the observations in the month of July. 54 


32 




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Cl 

d 

d 

Cl 

Cl 

d 

CO 

CO 

d 

01 

CO 


-t* 



Tf< 

CO 

rH 

rH 

rH 

rH 

d 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

Cl 

CO 

d 



• 



CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

ci 

CO 






































GO 




































© 

rH 


pH 


d 

CO 

rH 

rH 

CO 

© 

rf 

1C 

00 

>o 

CO 

CO 

Cl 



CO 

NO 


iO 

r-H 

CO 

© 

rH 

rH 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

rH 

Cl 

Cl 

rH 







CO 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

CO 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO’ 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

ci 

CO 




Sea. 

o 

rH 

rH 

d 

Cl 

d 

Cl 

rH 

Cl 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

Cl 

d 

d 

*** 


Tf< 



CO 

rH 

rH 

NO 

rH 

d 

d 

CO 

CO 

d 

CO 

CO 



• 



CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

ci 

CO 

CO 

*< 





































co 





































tH 


• fH 

o 

Cl 

00 

CO 

rH 

CO 

© 

CO 


© 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 


CO 

NO 



d 

rH 

NO 

CO 

rH 

Cl 

Cl 

CO 

rH 

d 

rH 

Cl 

rH 

1 



<1 


CO 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

Cl 

CO 

00 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 


CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

ci 

CO 




Sea. 


rH 

rH 

Cl 

Cl 

CO 

d 

rH 

Cl 

rH 

CO 

CO 

Cl 

Cl 

d 


CO 




CO 

rH 

—H 

NO 

rH 

Cl 

rH 

Cl 

CO 

d 

CO 

CO 

lO 





CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

ci 

CO 

> 

d 

rH 







































• 





































Ph 

•P-< 

o 

Cl 

GO 

Cl 

© 

CO 

© 

d 

Cl 

© 

CO 

CO 

CO 

d 

CO 


CO 

»o 


rf 

CO 

~H 

NO 

rH 

CO 

Cl 

d 

CO 

rH 

rH 

H 


CO 

1 





CO 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

d 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

32. 




cC 

© 

o 

rH 

rH 

*—■< 

Cl 

CO 

Cl 

rH 

Cl 

rH 

CO 

CO 

d 

Cl 

d 


d 




CO 

rH 

CO 

lO 

NO 

CO 

Cl 

Cl 

CO 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

NO 


*! 

d 

rH 



CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

ci 

CO 

d 


P-<* 

• rH 

o 

Cl 

© 

© 

o 

CO 

rH 

rH 

rH 

© 

-t* 

CO 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

*o 


lO 



CO 

rH 

NO 

rH 

CO 

Cl 

Cl 

CO 

© 

© 



CO 

© 

1 



<4 


CO 

Cl 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

Cl 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

CO 

ci 

CO 






T—1 

d 

CO 


lO 

© 

t-r 

GO 

© 

© 

rH 

d 

CO 


NO 

© 


00 

© 

© 

rH 

Ol 

CO 

rH 

NO 

© 

r- 

GO 

© 

© 


1 

o 


Date. 

18C9. 

J uly 









rH 

rH 

rH 

rH 

rH 

rH 

rH 

rH 

rH 

rH 

d 

d 

d 

d 

d 

d 

Cl 

Cl 

d 

d 

CO 

CO 

Mean . 

*fH 

•H 

0 





























































































































33 


The field of Dr. Dorst’s observations is, in the main, the same as that of 
Captain Koldewey. It reaches nearly to 79° north latitude, consequently not 
so far north, but to the south beyond Jan-Mayen; it also reaches not so far 
east, but somewhat further to the westward. 

The Swedish expedition under Nordenskiold left Tromso July 20, 18G8, 
and returned to the same place October 20. Observations, also of the tem¬ 
perature of the sea, were made four times daily. The course is shown on a 
chart published in a previous number of the “Geographische Mittheilungenf’ 55 
The maximum of the temperature of the sea (43°.47) was observed in the 
Ice Fiord on the coast of Spitzbergen, August 1, the temperature of the air 
at the same time being 40°.32. 

For the knowledge of the Gulf Stream, the observations are of particular 
interest between Tromso and Bear Island, where the principal arm of the 
Gulf Stream sets toward the east. This arm had, July 20 and 21, a tempera¬ 
ture up to 47°.3 ; three months afterward, October ly, still 46°.6. The width 
of the stream, with a temperature of 45°.5 and more, was, July 20, about 200 
nautical miles; October 19, still 170 miles, and to the vicinity of Bear Island, 
some 80 miles higher north, the sea retained a temperature of 43°.25. The 
very valuable observations of Sievert Tobiesen on Bear Island, during the 
winter of 1865-66, offer important data for comparison. 

Professor Nordenskiold and Dr. Fritch have had the goodness to send me 
a complete copy of the journal of the Swedish expeditions, 56 from which the 
July temperatures were taken for Chart No. 1. An abstract of them, how¬ 
ever, need not be added here, as most probably the journal has been published 
in the meantime with the transactions of the Swedish Academy, 57 to which I 
refer. 

While thus for the sea between Spitzbergen and Iceland an abundance 
of observations was available, (those of Dufferin, Koldewey, Yon Otter, Palan- 
der, and Dorst, besides the earlier ones, since 1773, by Irving, Scoresby, Parry, 
Martins, and others,) there were, until 1869, none at all eastward of the 
meridian 24° E. of Greenwich. There the first were made by Dr. Bessels, 
in Mr. Posen thal’s steamer Albert, in the summer of 1869, as far as longitude 
59° 40' E. of Greenwich and latitude 76° 45' N., near the northwest coast of 
Nova Zembla. 

Although the observations were made in the month of August, I have not 
hesitated to use them for the Chart No. 1 without correction, since the tern- 


34 


perature of the sea in that month generally differs from that in July but a few 
tenths of a degree. Dr. Bessels observed six times daily, as follows : 


Dr. Bessels’s observations of the temperature of the sea between Spitzbergen and Nova Zem- 

bla , August , 1869. 58 


Date. 

Position. 

Temp. 

Date. 

Position. 

Temp. 

Date. 

Position. 

Temp. 

Latitude N. 

Long. E. of 
Greenwich. 

Sea. 

Air. 

Latitude N. 

Long. E. of 

Greenwich. 

Sea. 

Air. 

Latitude N. 

Long. E. of 

Greenwich. 

Sea. 

Air. 

1869. 

o / 

o > 

o 

o 

1869. 

o / 

o / 

o 

o 

1869. 

o ‘ 

o / 

o 

o 

Aug. 

1 




41 

Aug. 8 

75 11 

28 32 

35 

46 

Aug. 14 

76 6 

44 26 

34 

39 






35 




38 

42 




34 

35 






34 




41 

42 




.... 

35 





31 

36 




42 

43 




34 

36 





32 

34 




42 

43 




34 

35 





32 

38 




42 

48 





39 

Aug. 

2 

76 16 

20 2 

30 

35 

Aug. 9 

76 05 

32 

41 

46 . 

Aug. 15 

75 55 

45 19 

r- 

37 





33 

36 




41 

41 



Storm 


34 

. 




33 

32 




41 

41 




i. 

35 





32 

31 




39 

41 




35 

36 






33 




39 

40 




36 

38 





32 

42 




33 

38 




35 

&9 

Aug. 

4 

76 2 

22 5 

34 

44 

Aug. 10 

75 36 

34 15 

33 

42 

Aug. 16 

75 55 

45 25 

35 

39 





33 

42 




33 

38 




35 

38 





33 

33 




35 

37 




35 

38 





33 

34 




32 

37 




35 

38 





33 

37 




32 

40 




34 

33 





35 

40 




34 

39 




35 

38 

Aug. 

5 

75 38 

22 48 

35 

40 

Aug. 11 

75 26 

35 47 

37 

41 

Aug. 17 

76 31 

48 37 

35 

35 





33 

40 




37 

38 




32 

31 





34 

36 




37 

37 




32 

33 





34 

36 




38 

35 




33 

32 





35 

37 




39 

35 




32 

32 





32 

38 




38 

35 




31 

33 

Aug. 

6 

74 59 

22 19 

32 

38 

Aug. 12 

75 54 

38 18 

37 

35 

Aug. 18 

76 13 

47 59 

33 

36 





32 

35 




37 

31 




32 

32 





32 

34 




34 

30 




33 

32 





32 

35 




33 

30 




33 

33 





32 

37 




33 

32 




33 

33 





31 

37 




33 

38 




35 

34 

Aug. 

7 

74 29 

23 2 

32 

37 

Aug. 13 

75 44 

41 11 

32 

39 

Aug. 19 

75 59 

52 28 

36 

34 





32 

36 




34 

33 




34 

33 





31 

34 




32 

33 




34 

34 





39 

37 




33 

33 




36 

31 





37 

39 




34 

26 




36 

32 





34 

47 




33 

38 




35 

33 

























35 


Dr. BesseVs observations of the temperature of the sea , &c. —Continued. 


Date. 

Position. 

Temp. 

Date. 

Position. 

Temp. 

Date. 

Position. 

Temp. 

Latitude N. 

Long. E. of 
Greenwich. 

Sea. 

Air. 

Latitude N. 

Long. E. of 

Greenwich. 

Sea. 

Air. 

Latitude N. 

Long. E. of 

Greenwich. 

Sea. 

Air. 

1869. 

o / 

6 • 

o 

o 

1869. 

o / 

o / 

o 

o 

1869. 

o / 

© / 

o 

o 

Aug. 20 

76 6 

57 27 

34 

42 

Aug. 24 

73 54.5 

51 13 

39 

35 

Aug. 28 

73 36 

30 5 

41 

39 




35 

33 




38 

33 




40 

38 




35 

34 




37 

35 




42 

38 




35 

33 




39 

39 




43 

37 





37 




40 

38 





39 




35 

39 





38 




45 

41 

Aug. 21 

76 37 

59 4 

33 

40 

Aug 25 

74 01 

90 9 

39 

39 

Aug. 29 

73 36 

21 52 

44 

40 




33 

35 




39 

39 




44 

40 




33 

33 





39 




45 

35 




31 

35 




39 

40 




46 

34 




32 

34 




39 

39 




46 

34 




33 

33 




40 

40 




47 

38 

Aug. 22 

75 46 

56 31 

32 

32 

Aug. 26 

74 2 

46 44 

40 

38 

Aug. 30 

71 51 

17 51 

47 

38 




32 

31 




.... 

37 




47 

38 




32 

31 




39 

37 




46 

37 




33 

31 




40 

37 




47 

37 




33 

32 




39 

38 




47 

38 




35 

31 




40 

41 




47 

39 

Aug. 23 

74 48 

52 46 

35 

33 

Aug. 27 

73 36 

40 52 

42 

39 

Aug. 31 

71 29 

17 19 

48 

40 




34 

32 




41 

37 




48 

38 




35 

33 




39 

35 




48 

37 




36 

33 




41 

36 




48 

37 




35 

33 




41 

37 




48 

46 

• 



39 

35 




40 

40 




48 

42 


Rosenthal’s expedition in the Albert, with Dr. Bessels on board, left Bre- 
merhaven May 23, 1869, and returned September 22. 58 

The numerous observations, from those of Lord Dufferin down to those of 
Dr. Bessels/attain their full value only by grouping them by months and plac¬ 
ing them on charts of a large scale; and each of the various series has gen¬ 
erally an especial value in itself—that of Bessels by its extent eastward ; that 
of Von Otter and Palander by its duration late into the autumn; that of Dorst 
by the length of the period (nearly half a year) from the season coldest in the 
temperature of the sea to the warmest; that of Dufferin by the great area 
covered, &c. The observations of Dr. Dorst, which concentrate principally 
upon a distinctly defined part of the Greenland Sea, four degrees of latitude 
and thirteen degrees of longitude in extent, are of especial importance also in 
























36 




regard to the question as to the extent and the manner of the destruction and the 
diminution of the polar ice in such an area from March to August. Three ice 
barriers, contracting gradually to nine degrees of longitude in the same lati¬ 
tude, were observed by Dr. Dorst, and are carefully shown on his charts. 

The only sea temperatures which, to my knowledge, have been observed 


on the coast of Nova Zembla, are those by Yon Baer, of the St. Petersburg 
Academy’s expedition, in Matoschkin Sharr, in the direction from west to east. 59 

August 6, 1837...41°.0 1 


August 11, 1837 


\ 390.2 

. } 39°.9 >40.1 

August 12, 1837.,390.2 j 

August 13, 1837.390.0 3 

A good synopsis of the earlier observations of the temperature of the 
sea, on the surface and at various depths, is that of Dumont d’Urville; 60 on 
those obtained near Spitsbergen Charles Martins has written an excellent 


memoir. 61 


Of the latest and not yet completed series of observations in the Euro¬ 
pean seas I have to notice those of the Royal Commission on the Irish Oyster 
Fisheries, which have been in progress since May, 1869, at Aberdeen, Howth, 
Arklow, Tramore, and Gfoodwick. The following have been communicated to 
me so far: 


Observations of the temperature of the sea at points on the coast of Grea t Britain , in 1869, 
by the Itoyal Commission on the Irish Oyster Fisheries, 62 

I. —Aberdeen, Bridge of Don, (Latitude 57° 12' N., Longitude 2° 7' W. of Greenwich.) 

[Staff Commander John Barnes.] 


Date. 

Temperature of 
the water. 

Wind. 

Temperature of 
the air. 

Date. 

Temperature of 
the water. 

Wind. 

O • 

© 

"cS ’cS 

s ® 

& 7a 

5 

© 

H 

At the 

coast. 

At sea. 

At the 

coast. 

At sea. 

1869. 


0 

0 


0 

1869. 


0 

0 


0 

May 

12 

48 

46 

S. E. 


June 

1 

52 

50 

S. E. 

54 

May 

13 

48 

46 . 

S. S. W. 

. 

June 

2 

52 

50 

s. w. 

54 

May 

14 

48 

46 

S.E. 


June 

3 

52 

50 

s.w. 

54 

May 

15 

48 

46 

S. E. 


Juno ■ 

4 

52 

50 

E. 

54 

May 

17 

48 

46 

E. 


June 

5 

52 

50 

E. 

54 

May 

18 

48 

46 

E. 


June 

7 

52 

50 

E. 

54 

May 

28 

48 

46 

N.E. 


June 

12 

52 

52 

S.W. 

54 

May 

29 

48 

46 

N. • 

50 

June 

14 

52 

51 

E. 

54 

May 

31 

48 

46 

N. 


June 

15 

53 

52 

E. 

54 

Mean . 


48.0 

46.0 


50.0 

June 

19 

52 

52 

E. 

54 






































37 


Observations of the temperature of the sea , &c. —Continue!. 


Date. 

Temperature of 
the water. 

Wind. 

Temperature of 

the air. 

Date. 

Temperature of 
the water. 

Wind. 

Temperature of 

the air. 

At the 

coast. 

At sea. 

At the 

coast. 

At sea. 

1869. 


o 

o 


o 

1869. 


o 

o 


o 

June 

21 

52 

52 

N.E. 

54 

July 

12 

56 

54 

S.W. 

60 

June 

22 

52 

52 

N. E. 

54 

July 

13 

56 

54 

W. S. W. 

60 

J une 

23 

52 

52 

N. N. E. 

54 

July 

14 

56 

54 

S. W. 

60 

June 

24 

54 

52 

N.E. 

54 

July 

15 

56 

56 

S. 

60 

June 

25 

54 

52 

S. „ 

56 

July 

16 

56 

56 

E. 

60 

June 

26 

56 

54 

E. 

58 

July 

17 

58 

56 

E. 

60 

June 

28 

56 

54 

E. 

58 

July 

19 

58 

56 

E. 

60 

June 

29 

56 

54 

E. 

58 

July 

20 

58 

56 

S. 

60 

June 

30 

56 

54 

E. 

58 

July 

21 

56 

56 

S. 

60 

Mean 


53.1 

51.8 


55.0 

July 

22 

56 

56 

S.E. 

58 







July 

23 

56 

56 

S.W. 

60 

July 

1 

56 

54 

E. 

58 

July 

24 

56 

56 

S.W. 

60 

July 

2 

56 

54 

E. 

58 

July 

26 

56 

56 

s. 

60 

July 

3 

56 

54 

E. 

58 

July 

27 

56 

56 

N. 

58 

July 

.5 

56 

54 

S. 

58 

July 

28 

56 

56 

s. w. 

58 

July 

6 

56 

54 

N. W. 

58 

July 

29 

56 

56 

s. 

58 

July 

7 

56 

54 

S.W. 

■58 

July 

30 

56 

56 

s. 

58 

July 

8 

56 

54 

S. W. 

58 

July 

31 

56 

56 

S.W. 

58 

July 

9 

56 

54 

S.W. 

58 

Mean 

. . . . 

56.3 

55.2 


59.0 

July 

10 

56 

54 

S. W. 

58 









II.— Howth, (Latitude 53° 

23' N., Longitude 6° 6' W. of Greenwich.) 







[William 

Horn. 63 ] 






May 

10 

49 


N. N. W. 

50 

May 

29 

50 


S.E. 

50 

Mav 

11 

49 


N. W. 

50 

May 

31 


50 


50 

May 

12 

48 


N. W. 

50 

Mean 


49.8 

46.6 


48.4 

Tlf 

1 Q 


40 


50 







lvitiy 

iO 


Hit 







May 

14 

50 


E. 

50 







Mav 

15 


50 

E. 

50 

June 

1 

50 


S.E. 

50 

May 

17 

50 


N. E. 

50 

June 

2 

50 


S.E. 

50 

May 

18 

50 


N. 

50 

June 

3 

50 


W. 

50 

Mav 

19 

50 


N. 

50 

June 

4 

50 


N. W. 

50 

Mav 

20 

40 

N.E. 

50 

June 

5 

50 


S.W. 

60 

Mav 

21 

50 


E. 

50 

June 

7 

50 


s. 

60 

Mav 

22 

50 


E. 

50 

J une 

8 

50 


N. 

50 

Mav 

24 

50 


E. 

50 

June 

9 

50 


N. 

50 

Mav 

25 

50 


E.N.E. 

50 

June 

10 


50 

N. 

50 

■“ A “j 

Mav 

26 

50 

E. N. E. 

40 

1 June 

11 

50 


N. 

50 

Mav 

27 


50 

N. E. 

40 

June 

12 


50 

S.W. 

50 

- LTAtA «> 

May 

28 

50 


N. 

40 

1 June . 

14 

50 


s. w. 

60 
































































































38 


Observations of the temperature of the sea , &c. —Continued. 


Date. 

Temperature of 
the water. 

Wind. 

Temperature of 

the air. 

At the 

coast. 

At sea. 

1869. 


o 

o 


o 

June 

15 

50 


N. 

60 

June 

16 

50 



60 

June 

17 


50 

S. 

60 

June 

18 

50 


s. w. 

60 

June 

19 


50 

s.w. 

60 

June 

21 


50 

s.w. 

60 

Juno 

22 


50 

N. E. 

60 

June 

23 

50 


N. E. 

60 

June 

24 

50 


W. 

60 

June 

25 


50 

E. 

60 

June 

26 

50 



60 

June 

28 

50 


N. E. 

60 

June 

29 

50 


N. 

60 

June 

30 

50 


N. 

60 

Mean. 

.... 

50.0 

50.0 


56.8 

July 

1 


50 

N.E. 

60 

July 

2 


50 

E. 

60 

July 

3 


50 

S.E. 

60 

July 

5 


50 

W. 

70 

July 

6 


50 

W. 

60 

July 

7 

50 


W. 

60 


Date. 


1869. 

July 

July 

July 


July 12 
July 13. 


July 

July 


14 

15 


July 16 
July 17 


July 

July 


19 

20 


July 21 

July 22 

July 23 
July 24 

July 26 
July 27 
July 28 
July 29 
July 30 
July 31 

Mean 


III.— Arklow, (Latitude 52° 48' N., Longitude 6° 12' W. of Greenwich.) 
[Boatswain Robert McConnell. 64 ] 


June 

1 

52 

50 

W. S. W. 

60 

June 

2 

56 

50 

S. W. 

58 

June 

3 

52 

50 

S. W. 

59 

June 

4 

50 

51 

S.W. 

54 

Juno 

5 

50 

50 

W. 

56 

June 

7 

51 

52 

s. s. w. 

74 

June 

8 

52 

50 

N.E. 

58 

June 

9 

54 

52 

S. E. 

60 

Juue 

11 

50 

51 

S. 

64 

June 

14 

52 

50 

w. 

70 

June 

16 

50 

52 

s. 

60 

June 

17 

50 

50 

s.w. 

58 

June 

18 

52 

50 

s.w. 

56 

June 

19 

50 

52 

N. E. 

54 

June 

21 

50 

52 

S.E. 

72 


Temperature of 
the water. 

Wind. 

Temperature of 

the air. 

At the 

coast. 

At sea. 

o 

o 


o 

50 


S. 

60 

50 


w. 

70 

50 


s.w. 

70 

50 


E. 

70 

50 


N. W. 

60 


50 

W. 

70 


50 

w. 

70 


50 

S.E. 

70 


50 

S.E. 

70 


60 

E. 

70 


50 

S. 

70 

60 


s. w. 

60 


60 

s.w. 

70 


60 

s.w. 

70 

60 


S. E. 

70 

60 


N. W. 

70 

60 


W. 

60 

60 


w. 

70 

50 

—-- 

s.w. 

60 

50 


w. 

60 


50 

w. 

70 

53.8 

52.0 


66.0 


J une 22 

June 23 

Mean.... 

50 

50 

52 

52 

N.E. 

S. 

64 

76 

51.4 

50.9 


61.9 

July 

3 

54 

58 

rs. 

72 

July 

5 

54 

58 

s. s. w. 

68 

July 

10 

50 

60 

s.w. 

70 

July 

12 

50 

58 

N.W. 

66 

July 

13 

52 

60 

N.W. 

70 

July 

14 

54 

58 

W. N. W. 

84 

July 

15 

54 

58 

S.W. 

84 

July 

16 

56 

60 

s. 

86 

July 

17 

54 

58 

s. w. 

82 

July 

20 

56 

60 

s. 

76 

July 

21 

54 

58 

s. 

76 



































































































89 


Observations of the temperature of the sea , &c. —Continued. 


Date. 

Temperature of 
tlie water. 

Wind. 

Temperature of 

the air. 

Date. 

Temperature of 
the water. 

Wind. 

Temperature of 

the air. 

At the 

coast. 

At sea. 

At the 

coast. 

At sea. 

1869. 

o 

o 


o 

1869. 

o 

o 

1869. 

o 

July 22 

52 

60 

S.W. 

72 

July 30 

50 

60 

S.W. 

64 

July 23 

52 

60 . 

S. W. 

70 

July 31 

52 

60 

S.W. 

68 

July 24 

52 

60 

S. 

72 





— 

July 26 

52 

60 

N. W. 

72 

Mean.... 

52.8 

59.2 


73.4 

July 28 

52 

60 

s. w. 

68 







IY. —Tramore, (Latitude 52° 10' N., Longitude 7° 12' W. of Greenwich.) 

♦ 

[Boatswain Richard Johns.] 


Date. 

Temperature 
of water. 

Wind. 

Temperature 
of air. 

Date. 

Temperature 
of water. 

Wind. 

Temperature 
of air. 

Date. 

Temperature 
of water. 

Wind. 

Temperature 

of air. 

1869. 

o 


o 

1869. 

o 


o 

1869. 

o 


o 

May 10 

52 

N. E. 

50 

June 9 

61 

S.W. 

72 

July 6 

63 

W. 

69 

May 11 

54 

S. 

58 

June 10 

62 

N. 

74 

July 7 

63 

S. W. 

68 

May 12 

54 

S. 

58 

June 11 

61 

N. 

72 

July 8 

65 

S.W. 

68 

May 17 

55 

S.E. 

63 

June 12 

59 

W. 

70 

July 9 

65 

W. S. W. 

68 

May 18 

55 

S.E. 

65 

June 14 

59 

N. W. 

68 

July 10 

66 

W. 

68 

May 19 

54 

N. 

66 

June 15 

59 

N. W. 

68 

July 12 

66 

N. 

73 

May 20 

54 

N. 

65 

June 16 

60 

N. W. 

69 

July 13 

66 

N. W. 

73 

May 21 

54 

N. 

66 

June 17 

57 

W. 

65 

July 14 

64 

N.W. 

75 

May 22 

54 

N. 

66 

June 18 

57 

W. 

65 

July 15 

62 

N.W. 

74 

May 24 

56 

s.s.w. 

60 

June 19 

57 

N. W. 

65 

July 16 

64 

E. 

72 

May 25 

57 

S. S. E. 

67 

June 21 

59 * 

N. 

68 

July 17 

66 

W. 

74 

May 26 

55 

E. 

57 

June 22 

59 

N. 

69 

July 19 

66 

s. w. 

75 

May 27 

56 

E. 

58 

June 23 

58 

N. 

68 

July 20 

65 

S. E. 

74 

May 28 

58 

N.E. 

60 

June 24 

65 

N. 

74 

July 21 

64 

w. s. w. 

73 

May 29 

56 

N.E. 

60 

June 25 

64 

N. 

72 

July 22 

65 

w. 

73 

May 31 

57 

N. 

62 

June 26 

63 

W. 

70 

July 23 

64 

W. N. W. 

■XXT o T XT 

73 





June 28 

64 

E. 

72 . 

July 24 

64 

YV. fe. W. 

72 

Mean. 

54.7 


61.2 













June 29 

63 

E. 

72 

July 26 

64 

W. N. W. 

69 





June 30 

63 

E. 

73 

July 27 

64 

N. W. 

69 

June 1 

57 

W. 

65 





July 28 

64 

W. N. W. 

69 

June 2 

57 

s. w. 

67 

Mean. 

59. 4 

.... .. .... 

68.9 













Tulv 29 

63 

w. s. w. 

67 

June 3 

56 

w. 

65 





t J u.i y ivi/ 

July 30 

63 

W. N. W. 

66 

June 4 

56 

w. 

65 

July 1 

63 

N. 

73 

July 31 

63 

W. N. W. 

66 

June 5 

57 

w. s. w. 

67 

.July 2 

64 

N. 

74 





June 7 

57 

w. 

68 

July 3 

65 

W. 

76 

Mean. 

64.2 

. 

71.1 

June 8 

58 

w. 

69 

July 5 

63 

4 

s. w. 

68 







































































40 

V.—Goodwick, (Latitude 52° N., Longitude 5° 2' W. of Greenwich.) 

[Lieutenant J. G. Annal. 65 J 




© 

u 


© 


© 

u 


© 



© 


o 

fH 

Date. 

3 -2 

s t 

Wind. 

i ti 

© 

£h <4-1 

Date. 

fS I- 
& % 

Wind. 

j* 

2 -a 
© 
pH 

Date. 

1 © 
f 3 4 - 

% s 

r—t K 

Wind. 

1 .*5 

<3 cS 

Ps *+H 

r-1 O 



£ 

© © 


s ° 

© 


£ <w 
© © 


3 ° i 



£ <4H 

© © 


a c 



H 


H 


H 


H 





H 

1869. 

o 


o 

1869. 

o 


o 

1869. 

o 

S. W. 

o 

May 

10 

50 

E. 

56 

June 7 

59 

W. 

66 

July 

5 

60 

64 

May 

11 

53 

N. N. E. 

58 

June 8 

55 

N. E. 

64 

July 

6 

62 

W. 

68 

May 

12 

51 

N. E. 

59 

June 9 

57 

N. E. 

64 

July 

7 

60 

W. S. W. 

64 

May 

13 

54 

N.E. 

63 

June 10 

58 

N. E. 

65 

July 

8 

60 

W. 

63 

May 

14 

52 

E. 

57 

June 11 

57 

N. E. 

55 

July 

9 

62 

W. 

64 

May 

15 

52 

E.S.E. 

63 

June 12 

57 

W. 

63 

July 

10 

61 

N. N. W. 

73 

May 

17 

53 

W. S. W. 

56 

June 14 

55 

N. 

62 

July 

12 

61 

N. E. 

73 

May 

18 

52 

W. S. W. 

57 

June 15 

55 

N.W. 

62 

July 

13 

59 

N. 

69 

May 

19 

49 

N. 

47 

June 16 

57 

N. 

62 

July 

14 

62 

N. E. 

70 

May 

20 

54 

N. W. 

59 

June 17 

57 

W. 

64 

July 

15 

63 

E. 

73 

May 

21 

54 

N. 

60 

June 18 

56 

N. E. 

56 

July 

16 

62 

E. 

70 

May 

22 

55 

N. 

63 

June 19 

55 

N. E. 

57 

July 

17 

63 

E. 

68 

May 

24 

53 

S. 

55 

June 21 

59 

N.E. 

66 

July 

19 

| 61 

Calm. 

64 

May 

25 

55 

S.E. 

61 

June 22 

55 

N. E. 

64 

July 

20 

63 

S. 

70 

May 

26 

55 

E. 

56 

June 23 

56 

N. 

65 

July 

21 

63 

s. w. 

70 

May 

27 

52 

E. 

53 

June 24 

58 

E. 

70 

July 

22 

60 

w. 

66 

May 

28 

51 

E. 

50 

June 25 

60 

Calm. 

64 

July 

23 

63 

w. 

72 

May 

29 

51 

N. E. 

50 

June 26 

62 

E. 

65 

July 

24 

63 

w. 

73 

May 

31 

53 

N. W. 

59 

June 28 

59 

E. 

70 

July 

26 

62 

N.W. 

68 

Mean. 

52.6 


57.0 

Juije 29 

59 

E. 

67 

July 

27 

62 

E. N. E. 

70 






June 30 

59 

E 

70 

July 

28 

60 

S. W. 

64 

June 

June 

1 

2 

55 

54 

s. w. 

s. s. w. 

64 

56 

Jj» 

Mean. 

57.2 

. 

63.5 

July 

July 

29 

30 

60 

62 

s. w. 

w. 

63 

68 










June 

3 

55 

w. 

64 

July 1 

62 

E. 

71 

July 

31 

62 

w. 

66 

June 

4 

57 

w. 

63. 

July 2 

60 

. N * 

72 












June 

5 

60 

w. 

64 

July 3 

62 

* E. 

69 

Mean. 

61.5 

. 

68.4 


RECAPITULATION OF THE MONTHLY MEANS. 


Months. 

Aberdeen, Bridge 
of Don. 

Howth. 

Arklow. 

Tramore. 

Goodwick. 

+3 

CB 

C3 

O 

O 

c3 

© 

m 

< 

+3 

02 

c3 

o 

o 

<3 

© 

W 

< 

43 

32 

<3 

o 

o 

3 

© 

m 

< 

© 

3 

£ 

< 

fH 

© 

43 

3 

fH 

< 

1869. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

o 

48.0 

53.1 

56.3 

o 

46.0 

51.8 

55.2 

o 

50.0 

55.0 

59.0 

O 

49.8 

50.0 

53.8 

o 

46.6 

50.0 

52.0 

o 

48.4 

56.8 

66.0 

o 

51.4 

52.7 

o 

50.9 

59.2 

o 

61.9 

73.4 

O 

54.7 

59.4 

64.2 

o 

61.2 

68.9 

71.1 

O 

52.5 

57.2 

61.5 

o 

57.0 

63.5 

68.4 
















































































41 


In the German Sea there are observations of Dutch herring fishers 
from 1858 to 1863, 66 which are of interest; but only the mean values are 
given, which could not be made use of for the two charts. 

In the Mediterranean Sea Captain T. Spratt has made valuable obser¬ 
vations of the temperature of the sea at various depths, up to 1,240 fathoms. 67 
The following are those at the surface of the sea: 


Locality. 

Date. 

Temperature. 

In the Syrtis. _.;. 

February 21, 1861.. 

o 

61 

In the Syrtis. 

February 27, 1861 . 

60 

West of Alexandria. 

April 6, 1861... 

62 

On the coast of Egypt. 

April 1861. 

63 

Between Malta and Tripoli.. 

May 1861. 

62 

Near Crete. 

June 14, 1860 . 

73 

Grecian Archipelago. 

July 15,1860. 

78 

Opposite the east end of Rhodes. 

Near Crete... 

August 25,1860. 

September 20, 1862.. 

82 

75 

On Mie coast of Egypt... 

November 15, 1861. 

73 




The data for the temperature of the air, which were made use of in 
constructing the two charts, are from various authorities, partly mentioned 
above; for instance, Buchan, Mohn, Tobiesen, &c. The most voluminous 
tables are found in Dove’s works; 68 the most accurate and most complete 
synopsis for the entire Russian empire is by A. Wojeikow, published 1869. 69 
Of the various more isolated data I mention those kindly communicated 
to me in manuscript, on different occasions, by Dr. J. Hann, of Vienna, 
coeditor of the excellent periodical published by the Austrian Society of 
Meteorology; as, for instance, the monthly means of Swedish observations 
computed by him, of which he remarks as follows: “The Meteorqlogiske 
Iaktagelser i Sverige, prepared by Edlund, give means for five days of twenty- 
five stations since 1859. There are now eight volumes, the last being that 
for 1866; unfortunately, no monthly means are given. For the northernmost 
stations I have computed the following means for the extreme months, em¬ 
bracing a period of five years. They cannot yet be considered normal values, 
but represent the differences of the stations pretty accurately: 

Haparanda - - 65° 50' K, 21° IV E. of Greenwich; January, 11°.7; July, 58°.3 
Pitea .... 65° 19' K, 21° 30' E. of Greenwich; January, 13°.5; July, 58°.8 
Jockmock 70 - - 66° 36' N., 19° 50' E. of Greenwich; January, 4°.8; July, 56°.5 71 ” 

6 



























42 


3.—THE GULF STREAM, FROM THE OBSERVATIONS UP TO 1870. 

The remarks which now follow are intended to explain the two charts 
accompanying this memoir, the sources of which were enumerated in the 
preceding pages. 

To represent the Gulf Stream in its entirety, at least in some degree, 
twelve charts would be required, one for each month, and these should be on 
a far larger scale, and consequently of a far greater size, if they were to con¬ 
tain all the data on which they should be based. These two charts, therefore, 
are to be considered only a preliminary expedient. If Maury had grouped 
the thermal observations collected by him by months, and represented them 
thus on charts, the meteorology of the ocean would have been promoted far 
more; ninety-six large sheets, however, would then have been required 
instead of eight. 

In order to show the Gulf Stream on two sheets, I have selected the 
warmest and the coldest months of the year, July and January. It is true, 
there is generally a delay in the extreme mean temperatures of the sea, by 
one or two months for the North Atlantic, the highest temperatures falling in 
August and the lowest in February or March; but, since the charts are 
intended also to represent the isothermal lines of the air in the parts of the 
continents influenced by the ocean, and because it was my aim to show the 
most potent source of heat in summer and that of cold in winter, (in both 
cases it being extended area of land,) and, at the same time, for comparison, 
the influences of the sea standing be tween the two extremes, I have retained 
the months of July and January. 

On the Equator, in the Atlantic Ocean, the mean temperature of the sur¬ 
face of the sea is, according to Kamtz, 78°.6 ; 72 the average maximum in lati¬ 
tude 6° N. is 81°.3; 73 the highest observed temperature in 3° OF N., accord¬ 
ing to Kotzebue, 84°.6 ; and the mean temperature of the sea between the 
parallels of 3° N. and 3° S., according to Humboldt, from 80°.1 to 82°.4. 74 

The mean temperature of the air in the equatorial belt of the Atlantic 
Ocean between 10° N. and 10° S., according to Lenz, is 78°.8. 75 

On the July chart the core of the Gulf Stream shows the form of 
a tongue of a temperature of 81°.5, (at some places even 84° was ob¬ 
served,) extending north of the Equator to the 38th degree of latitude. This 
may be called not only a warm, but better, a hot stream. This hot stream 
produces itself as a double tongue, with a mean temperature of from 77° to 


43 


81°.5, (20° to 22° R.,) toward the north as far as the 40th degree of latitude, 
and toward the east to the 43d degree of longitude W. of Greenwich; that is, 
far beyond Newfoundland. In January (Chart No. 2) the tongue of 77° 
(20° R.) reaches to latitude 37° N. and longitude 70° 30' W.; and at the 
place where the east end of this tongue of 77° terminates in July, we find in 
January a temperature of 63°.5 and 65°.8, (14° and 15° R.) 

Up to the meridian of the eastern end of Newfoundland the Gulf Stream 
proceeds first in an east-northeast and then in an east direction, parallel to the 
American coast, with an average temperature in July of 77° to 83°.8, (20 to 
23° R.,) and in January of 68° to 77°, (16° to 20° R.) The highest tempera¬ 
ture of the air in Africa in the same parallel in January is only 59°. 

From all this it is evident that a mere drift is out of question, as the 
temperature decreases south of the hot tongues just described ; the hot water, 
therefore, comes exclusively from the direction of the Florida Straits, and not 
from any other part of the Atlantic Ocean. 

Up to Newfoundland the Gulf Stream rebounds toward the north against 
the coast line, as if against a wall, and runs there along the cold arctic current 
which follows the opposite direction. The decrease of the temperature in 
this short distance, from the Gulf Stream to the coasts of Nova Scotia and 
Newfoundland, is, therefore, very great, in summer as well as in winter—in 
July about 27 degrees in 340 miles, and in January as much as 45 degrees in 
the same distance. 

At Newfoundland the Gulf Stream comes in violent collision with the 
Polar Stream of Labrador, which, nearly at a right angle, sets against and 
penetrates into it like an immense wedge. But the former is now by no means 
annihilated, as Mr. Findlay-concludes; on the contrary, it sallies forth intact 
from this conflict. There are drifting down, however, each spring, from Feb¬ 
ruary to July, but mostly in April and May, from the north, in the southeastern 
direction of this wedge, which is sharpest defined in July, gigantic icebergs 
and vast masses of polar ice, which have been observed as far south as 36° 10' 
N., (on the same parallel as Gibraltar and Malta,*) principally on the meridian 
50° W. of Greenwich; that is, directly in the core of the Gulf Stream, in the 
hot waters of which these great masses of ice, so to speak, explode when 
arriving, and disappear in a very short time. The Gulf Stream is not dis- 

* The mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on ihe American side.— Hydrographic Office* 




44 


turbed to any degree, either in its direction or in its temperature, until a very 
short distance east of Newfoundland when it bends sharply toward the north. 
The influence of the Polar Stream on the isothermal curves of the ocean is still 
less in January than in July. 

The Polar Stream carries down, as a gift of the spring, walruses and 
polar bears to the coasts of Newfoundland, at a time when on the same par¬ 
allels of latitude at Mayence, Paris, Cherbourg, or Brest, 76 the plants awake to 
new life, and nightingales warble their songs. About this time the sea isother¬ 
mal curve of 45°.5, (6° R.,) as shown on the July chart, penetrates southward 
beyond the 50th degree of latitude, while 380 miles to the eastward the Gulf 
Stream, .rolling its waters to the north, has still a temperature of 68°. With 
two convex bends and a width of about thirty degrees of longitude, the latter 
thence proceeds northward toward Iceland and into the Arctic Sea. In 
January the isothermal line of 45°.5 (6° R.) reaches from Newfoundland 
southwardly down to the 42d degree of latitude, and follows the east coast of 
the United States still further southward to the 37th degree, to about Chesa¬ 
peake Bay. The two vertexes of the Gulf Stream, as it sets toward the north, 
are less defined than in July; already on the 50th degree of latitude but one 
principal bend is perceptible in the isothermal line of 54°.5, (10° R.) In 
about that latitude an arm of the Gulf Stream sets northwest into Baffin’s 
Bay, along the west coast of Greenland and up to Smith’s Sound, as demon¬ 
strated by me on another occasion, to which I refer. 77 

While the Gulf Stream has in January, on the 50th parallel of latitude, 
still a temperature of 54°.5, the thermometer shows at the same time, at 
Prague or at Ratibor, (in Silesia,) on the same parallel of latitude, temperatures 
of—24°, and sometimes still lower ones. The isothermal line of 54°.5 (10° R.) 
runs up in July toward Iceland and the Faroe Islands to the 61st degree of 
latitude. There it meets for the second time the Polar Stream, which on the 
east coast of Iceland again threatens to block up its way and to destroy it. 

The summer observations of temperature collected by Admiral Irminger, 
as already noticed, not only show that an arm of the Gulf Stream proceeds 
toward the north along the west coast of Iceland, but also that this arm 
extends to the east along the entire north coast, and does not meet the Polar 
Stream until it has reached the northeast end of the island. Only for the 
months of May, June, July, and August figures are found in Irminger’s col¬ 
lection off the north coast of Iceland, all of which show a higher temperature 


45 


than those off the east coast. In July temperatures were observed on the 
north coast of 45°.0; 47°.l, and 48°.3, (DufFerin 46°.0,) while off' the east coast, 
for six degrees of longitude, none higher than from 40° to 42°.6 were found. 
According to Irminger’s data and Lord DufFerin’s observations, the Gulf Stream 
setting toward the north preponderates in July on the west and north coasts 
of Iceland, but on the east and south coasts the Polar Stream coming from 
the direction of Jan-Mayen. 

Between Iceland and the- Faroe Islands the Gulf and Polar Streams are 
contending against each other, and the result of this struggle is a sea divided 
in a great number ol hot and cold bands, which fact is demonstrated clearly 
by Lord Dufferin’s cruise from Stornoway to Reikiavik, in 1856, and fully cor¬ 
roborated by Wallich in the Bulldog expedition of 1860. The chart accom¬ 
panying Wallich’s memoir 78 has a very good representation of these currents. 

The fact that the two streams, in their contest, appear as many bands and 
strata, alongside, over, and beneath each other, is proved not only by the ob¬ 
servations of the temperature of the surface of the sea by Irminger and Duf- 
ferin, but also by the researches of Wallich in regard to the nature of the 
bottom of the sea. The latter found there volcanic stones pointing as to their 
origin to Jan-Mayen, and at other places ophiocomse of two to five inches in 
length, which could have been carried there only by the warm Gulf Stream. 79 
Another argument is that the drift ice penetrates here further to the south than 
anywhere else east of Iceland. Scoresby, for instance, in 1822, observed great 
masses of heavy ice in latitude 64° 30' N., longitude 7° 00' W. of Greenwich, 
and detached pieces even as far south as 63° 40' N., (longitude 8° W. of Green¬ 
wich,) and as far east as longitude 3° W. of Greenwich, (in latitude 66° 49' 
N. 80 ) Even still farther southward ice has been seen by Sir James Clark 
Ross, in latitude 61° 00' N., longitude 6° 00' W. of Greenwich, which is 
southeast of the Faroe Islands. 

In the same manner the temperature of the sea at the Faroe Islands, even 
down to the Shetland and Orkney Islands, appears depressed in comparison 
with that of the west coast of Iceland. The isothermal lines show, from Jan- 
Mayen, a remarkable concavity as far as the German Sea, which can be caused 
only by the cooling influence of the Polar Stream. Reikiavik and Stykkis- 
holmr (latitude 65° 04' N.) have in July a temperature of the sea of 52°.9 
and 50°, while at Thorshavn, in 62° 02 / N., it is only 48°.9. At times the 


46 


temperature of the air also is, in consequence of this cooling influence, de¬ 
pressed in the entire region from the Shetland Islands to the German coast, as, 
for instance, in July, 1867, when, on the Shetland Islands, in Scotland, and 
down to Southern England, it was, on the average, fully 4°.5 lower than the 
normal temperature. 81 

But here, also, the Gulf Stream comes away equally intact from its strug¬ 
gle with the Polar Stream, as at Newfoundland. We now know its further 
course in the summer from many direct observations, as far north as Spitz- 
bergen and Nova Zembla, and beyond the 80th degree of latitude. For the 
winter we still possess but few observations on the high sea, but we know its 
influences as well as in the summer, partly through the meteorological stations, 
and, again, from various climatic phenomena on the coasts washed by it. 

The mild winter of the British Isles is well known. The mean tem¬ 
perature for January at London is 37°.4; at Edinburgh the same; at Dublin 
40°.5. The further we go from east to west or from south to north, or, in 
other words, the nearer to the Gulf Stream, the higher we find the tempera¬ 
ture. At Unst, on one of the Shetland Islands, 560 miles north of London, 
the mean temperature of the air for January is 40°.3, and that of the sea even 
45°.5, (East Yell.) 

A drift current, therefore, is out of the question, else the temperature 
of the air would be higher than that of the sea. Clearly, the warm current of 
the sea is tempering the air, and not vice versa. The lowest temperature 
observed in London is only —5°; at Penzance, on the west coast, +24°.l; at 
Sandwich, on the Orkney Islands, +15°.8, and at Bressay, on the Shetlands, 
+ 14°.9. At Madrid, +13°.3 has been observed, and 27°.5 even at Algiers, 
which provides Europe with the cauliflower in winter.* 

On the morning of February 8, 1870, the telegraph announced the tem¬ 
perature at Ratibor (in Silesia) to be —25°.4, while northwest of it, at Bres¬ 
lau, it was —13°; at Berlin, —0°.4; at Kiel, + 10°.6; and at Christian sand, on 
the south of Norway, eight degrees of latitude north of Ratibor, +30°.7. So 
high a temperature would be impossible in Norway, and the winds could not 
carry it there if they did not derive it from the high-tempered Gulf Stream 
to the westward. 

* At New York and Washington the lowest observed temperature is —4° 0. See 
“ Results of meterological observations from 1854 to 1859, compiled by the Smithsonian 
Institution.”— IIydkogkaphic Office. 




47 


The conclusions of the great mass are apt to be superficial and thought¬ 
less; because, as the Iceland summer is rough and cold, “how very cold must 
it be there in winter!” But exactly the contrary is the fact. “I must con¬ 
fess,” so Dr. Henderson narrates, “that I really shuddered when thinking of 
living through a winter in Iceland; how greatly was I astonished when I found 
the temperature not only higher than in Denmark, where I had been 
during the preceding winter, but also, that the winter in Iceland was by no 
means more severe than the mildest winter which I had ever known in Den¬ 
mark and Sweden.” 82 Sheep and horses have to take care of themselves dur¬ 
ing the entire year in Iceland; only cattle and the more valuable saddle-horses 
are fed in the stable during the winter. 83 How impossible would it be in Ger¬ 
many to leave any domestic animal in mid winter' without shelter, even for a 
few days only ! The lakes near Reikiavik are frozen in many winters not more 
than two inches thick, very rarely to eighteen inches. 84 The lowest tempera¬ 
ture of the air experienced in Reikiavik during thirteen years was only +3.9. 85 

It is not to be wondered at that such is the case, because the warm Gulf 
Stream provides Iceland with heat. Its mean temperature there is, even in 
January, 34°.7 above zero, and the lowest temperature noted during twenty 
years was only 28°.6. (Compare the table, page 13 ) 

The vertex of the Gulf Stream passes, according to the observations 
obtained thus far, close to the Shetland Islands ; there have been, unfortunately, 
at that point no observations taken of the temperature of the sea in July ; in Jan- 
uary the sea retains still 45°.5, while the temperature at the neighboring Faroe 
Islands in July is 49°; consequently there is, between the wannest and the 
coldest month, only a difference of 3°.5. This very small oscillation in the 
temperature of the core of the Gulf Stream is one of its most remarkable 
qualities. The Faroe Islands are on the same parallel with Hudson Bay, 
Kamtchatka, and Irkutsk; a drift, “depending solely on the winds,” would 
never be able to cause such relations of temperature. The temperature of 
the sea at the Scottish stations also demonstrates that the Gulf Stream has in 
winter relatively a greater preponderance over the Polar Stream than in 
summer. 

Iceland is situated close to the arctic circle and in the latitude of Siberia; 
we shall now direct our researches within the same latitudes farther eastward 
to Norway, and closer to the vicinity of the severe climate of Asia. 


48 


While on the western side of the North Atlantic Ocean the polar ice 
reaches down to latitude 36° N., (the parallel of Gibraltar and Malta,) and the 
name Labrador is sufficient to characterize the climatic qualities of all the land 
between 50° and 60° N., there extends on the east side of the ocean, along the 
Norwegian coast, cultivated land up to 71° N., the northernmost land of the 
world in which, under the influence of the Gulf Stream, agriculture is the 
main occupation of the inhabitants. Wheat is grown up to Inderoen, in lati¬ 
tude 64° N. ; barley up to Alten, in 70° N., where sowing generally is done 
between the 20th and 25th of June, yielding in the short space of eight weeks, 
to the 20th or 30th of August, in the average six or seven fold; the potato 
yields, at the same place, on the average seven or eightfold—in favorable sea¬ 
sons even twelve to fifteen fold; it thrives on the coast as far east as Yadso, on 
the Russian boundary line. At Alten (70 N) relishable cauliflower is raised 
even in less favorable summers. 86 Where washed by the Polar Current, there 
are, as shown especially by the various Franklin expeditions, under 70° N., but 
desolate ice deserts without any cultivation, and the place of the destruction of 
Franklin’s own expedition has been located between the 67th and 70th degrees 
of latitude. On this side there are but the poor snow huts of the Esquimaux; 
on the other (in 70§ N.) is the flourishing and busy little town of Hammer- 
fest, where only once the temperature has been as low as +5°, and generally 
is not less than 9°.5. 87 

While, as in the last winter, Germany has to suffer the frigid air of—24o, 
and sometimes more intense cold, at that same time Norway gathers a rich 
harvest under the arctic circle, not from its acres, but in the warm waters of 
the Gulf Stream, as, for instance, at Aasvaer, in the direction of the vertex of 
the Gulf Stream, (Chart No. 2;) there the herring makes its appearance about 
the 10th of December, remaining until the first days of January, and then 
10,000 people congregate and haul about 200,000 tons, of a value of more than 
a million dollars. 88 

From the important deep-sea soundings obtained by vessels of the 
United States Navy, Professor Agassiz concludes that the waters of the Gulf 
of Mexico are carried through the Gulf Stream to the coasts of Norway; he 
considers the Lophohelia affinis , (Pourt.,) found in the Gulf of Mexico, identical 
with the species which is found at the northernmost coasts of Norway, and 
believes that by the Gulf Stream it is carried from the Tropic sea into 
those high latitudes . 89 


49 


Up to Hammerfest, however, these wonderful relations might perhaps be 
caused by the winds of Messrs. Findlay, Blunt, and their adherents, if these 
only would be kind enough to blow during the entire winter directly from the 
Gulf of Mexico in one and the same direction over a distance equal to eighty 
or ninety degrees of latitude, which in reality is not the case; but there the 
Norwegian coast turns sharply toward the east, and is surrounded henceforth 
exclusively by the polar ice region and the corresponding icy winds. 

A Russian shipmaster, Kononoff, who sailed in 1864 from Cronstadt by 
the way of Copenhagen, along the Norwegian coast around the North Cape 
to Kola, arriving there December 17, in fact found no warm winds at all; the 
temperature of the air, on the contrary, fell to —18°, but the sea retained, up 
to Kola, so mild a temperature that no ice could form; so that he could reach the 
open bay of Kola without impediment. 90 

Tschubinski (in “Sapiski dlja Stenia, 1867”) states that the winter on 
the Murmanian coast (Northern Lapland) is not so cold as in the department 
of Archangel, south of it; that the temperature between latitude 68° and 70° 
N. rarely falls to —13°, most frequently not below +10° to —2° and that the 
entire Murmanian coast (the sea up to the Holy Cape, or Svatoi Noss) never 
freezes. 91 On the contrary, the Baltic Sea, far to the southward, and even the 
Azov Sea, situated further to the south by twenty-three degrees of latitude, 
are covered each winter with thick ice. 92 But the Gulf Stream, in the latitude 
of the Azov Sea, possesses in January a temperature of from +55 to 57°, day 
and night. 

East of the North Cape, distant from it about one hundred and twenty 
nautical miles, at Vhrdoe, the temperature of January is +18°.5; while at Peters¬ 
burg, six hundred and twenty miles south of the former, it is +15°.l. But 
the most important fact, testifying to the existence and the great volume of the 
Gulf Stream at the North Cape, appears to me to be the temperature of the 
sea at Fruholm, which in January is in the mean still +37°.9. Fruholm is on the 
same parallel of latitude as Ust-Jansk in Siberia and Point Barrow in North 
America. The former has a mean temperature in January of —38°.6, the latter 
of—18°.6. Meran, in Tyrol, of world-wide celebrity, on account of its mild and 
temperate air, nearer to the Equator by twenty-four and a half degrees, has in 
January a temperature (of the air) of 31°.8, Venice 36°.3, Vevay 33°.l, and 
Paris 35°.4.* 

♦New York, 29°.5; Washington, 31°.5. See “Results of Meteorological Observa¬ 
tions, 1854 to 1859, by the Smithsonian Institution Hydrographic Office. 

7 



50 


Beyond the northernmost coasts of Europe observations of the tempera¬ 
ture, in summer and winter, have been made in Nova Zembla and on Bear 
Island. On the former, Russians have wintered for scientific purposes several 
times within thirty-eight years, first Pachtussow, 1832-33, at the Kara Straits, 
and 1834-35 at Matotschkin Scharr, (Matthew’s Straits;) then Moissejew, 
1838-39, in Shallow Bay. 93 There is less ice on the north coast of Nova Zem¬ 
bla than on the south coast, 94 and the highest temperature was found at the 
northernmost of the three meteorological stations, in summer and winter, as well 
as in the average throughout the year; the temperature there never was lower 
than —26°.5, but at the Kara Straits, three degrees south of the northernmost 
station, it fell to —40°. 95 The mean temperature of Shallow Bay (situated in 
latitude 73° 57' N.,) in January, +9°.5, is also that of Quebec, (latitude 47° 
00' N.,) on the west side of the North Atlantic; and at Nain, in Labrador, (lat¬ 
itude 57° N.,) it is as low as —2°.4. 

On Bear Island the Norwegian fisherman, Sievert Tobiesen, has observed 
the temperature during the entire winter, from August 6, 1865, to June 19, 
1866, three times daily—at 8 a. m., 2 p. m., and 8 p. m.—at his own expense. 
I have appended these very meritorious observations in full at the end of this 
memoir. Here I insert an abstract of the monthly means, together with those 
found at Shallow Bay, on Nova Zembla, in nearly the same latitude, for com¬ 
parison ; the two are the northernmost observations in the European Arctic 
Sea. I have also added those for Ust-Jansk, on the Siberian coast; of Point 
Barrow, the northernmost point of North America; of Mercy Bay, in the Arc¬ 
tic Archipelago of North America; of Rensselaer Harbor, Kane’s winter sta¬ 
tion in Smith’s Sound; and lastly of the North Pole, according to Professor 
Dove’s computations: 


51 


Means of the temperature of the air » 


Months. 

Bear 

Island. 

Shallow 

Bay, 

Ust-Jansk. 

Point Bar- 

row. 

Mercy Bay. 

Rensselaer 

Harbor. 

North 

Pole, 

(Dove.) 

Latitude N-... 

74° 39' 

73° 57' 

70° 55' 

71° 31' 

74° 6' 

78° 37' 


Longitude from 
Greenwich. 

18° 48 7 E. 

54° 48' E. 

138° 24' E. 

156° 17' W. 

117° 54' W. 

70° 40' W. 

90° 


o 

0 

o 

o 

6 

o 

o 

January. 

4.1 

9.5 

—38.6 

—18.6 

—35.5 

—29.4 

—26.5. 

February. 

16.5 

4.2 

—36.0 

—22.4 

—32.1 

—27.4 

—21.1 

March... 

6.3 

3.2 

—17.5 

—14. 6 

—26,7 

—36,4 

—15. 3 

April. 

13.8 

4.7 

— 0.4 

3.4 

- — 4.0 

—11.2 

1.0 

May. 

24.1 

30.0 

16.2 

20.1 

10.2 

12.9 

15.1 

June. 

33. 8<* 

37.6 

37.8 

32.2 

31.6 

29.3 

27.5 

July. 


41.0 

52.7 

36.2 

36.7 

38.1 

30.6 

August___ 

37.1 9 6 

39.0 

49.5 

38.3 

35.4 

32.4 

27.5 

September. 

33.8 

31.2 

27.5 

25.9 

22.5 

13.6 

18.5 

October ........ 

27.0 

22.7 

— 2.2 

2.3 

— 0.8 

— 4.9 

0.1 

November. 

22.3 

0.2 

—22.2 

— 8.5 

—15.7 

—22. 9 

—11.2 

December. 

16.7 

3.4 

—33.0 

—13.2 

—23.1 

—31.9 

—18.0 

Year..- 


18.9 

2.7 

6.8 

— 0.2 

— 3.1 

2.3 


Tobiesens hut was on the northeast point of the island, 97 without any 
protection, exposed to wind and weather, especially toward the north and east, 
and the island is situated in the middle of the Polar Stream, which here 
deposits its masses of ice. Notwithstanding all this, the observations did show 
the highest temperature to be here, of all the places where observations were 
obtained in or near the same latitude in either the northern or the southern 
hemisphere. The average temperature of —3°.l, of all the days in the year, 
which Kane found in Rensselaer Harbor, is lower than the mean temperature 
of the coldest month on Bear Island. Ice did not become firm during the 
entire winter, but consisted of loose drift pieces driven by the winds in all 
directions. On Christmas day the temperature was +34°.2, and during the 
entire week, to January 1, the average was 32°.9, for the most time with 
westerly winds, which brought rain on four days. The absolutely lowest tem¬ 
perature (—19°.1) was observed January 8. 

Already before Tobiesen, Norwegian walrus hunters had wintered 
repeatedly on Bear Island since 1824; they report of the year 1824 as follows: 





























52 


Up to the middle of November the weather was mild; the snow, which fell 
at night, melted again during the day-time. In that year also there was rain 
at Christmas, and in the same week more than seventy walruses were killed 
by the light of the moon and the aurora borealis. Until February the weather 
was still so mild that the people could work outside; the sea was free of ice 
to such a degree that polar bears did not make their appearance on the island 
earlier than April, when the temperature reached the lowest point and the sea 
was covered with firm ice. The latter comes principally from the northeast, 
from the Siberian coast; but northeasterly winds had not blown, according to 
the journal, during the entire winter; very little ice, therefore, drifted to the 
island. The Gulf Stream, to all appearances, remained in preponderance dur¬ 
ing the winter toward the northeast, and the winds from that direction, blow¬ 
ing over the island, brought rain, even about Christmas time. But after the 
sun had risen again for the arctic central region, and with the gradual increase 
of the temperature, the ice broke loose from the places of its generation on the 
Siberian and other coasts, and started on its course toward the south. Most of 
the ice which reached Bear Island did not arrive earlier than June and in the 
beginning of July, and this also is the time at which, with great regularity, 
each year the coasts of Siberia become free of ice. Until this time all the 
winds from the northeast brought cold weather, because they had to pass over 
the Arctic Sea, but after that, the weather became mild with the same wind. 98 

According to the weather calendar for the year 1865-66 one could row 
around the island in a boat until the end of October. November 6 no ice was 
to be*seen, and the island and the surrounding sea were, more or less, free of 
ice at the following dates: 16th to 19th of November, 30th of November, 4th 
of December, 7th to 10th of December, 31st of December to 7th of January, 
3d to 5th of February, 10th to 24th of February, 2d of March, 23d of March, 
&c. 

While the mean temperature of the air in October at Tobiesen’s winter 
hut was 27°, that of the water of the Gulf Stream, between the island and the 
Norwegian coast, was, for the same month, according to Von Otter and Palan- 
der, 46°.6, consequently 19°.6 higher; and while the January mean of the air 
fell to +4° the sea at Fruholm was still at 37°.8, and perhaps more at a 
greater distance from shore. No other region of the globe shows, within the 
same latitudes, such relations of temperature as those under the influence of 
the Gulf Stream, except perhaps East Greenland and Spitzbergen. In regard 


53 


to East Greenland we have, the following data of the expedition under Claver¬ 
ing and Sabine, which came to anchor August 13, 1823, under the lee of 
Sabine Islands in latitude 74° 30' N. Leaving General Sabine at the obser¬ 
vatory, Captain Clavering started, August 16, on an excursion with two small 
boats, which were rowed along the coast in fair weather. This excursion took 
twelve days, during which the crew each night slept in tents, covered only with 
coat and blanket, without suffering in the least from the cold. The tempera¬ 
tures from the 16th to the 28th were : mean 36°.5, highest 52°.2, lowest 23°. 9 
On Bear Island the mean temperature from August 16 to 28, according to 
Tobiesen, was 36°.3. 

In Germany (at Ratibor, in latitude 50° N.) last winter the temperature 
fell to a lower point (—25°.4) than it ever appears to have attained on Bear 
Island, (minimum in 1855-’56 only —19°.l.) 

The climate of Spitzbergen is, according to all accounts, still milder than 
that of Bear Island. It is certain, and proved by observations, that the heat 
of the sun reaches a considerably higher point, even in latitude 80° N., than 
on Bear Island. Blomstrand observed July 16, 1861, in Wide Bay, (Wijde 
Bay,) on the north coast, in the shade 60°.8, 100 while Tobiesen, on Bear 
Island, saw only three times the thermometer rise to 43°.5, on the 6th and 17th 
of August and the 18th of September. 

Parry, in 1827, found the mean temperature of the air in July to be 
40° l. 101 

Of the temperature of Spitzbergen in the winter we have yet no obser¬ 
vations, but the Norwegians and Russians, who have wintered there so fre¬ 
quently, describe “the winter as not so cold as at St. Petersburg.” 102 There 
are to this day in all the bays (fiords) on all the coasts of Spitzbergen, many, 
some well preserved, others decayed, so-called “Russian huts” to testify that 
Russians have, during the last century and at least for the three or four first 
decades of this century, visited Spitzbergen in considerable numbers to hunt 
the walrus, seal, whale, bears, and foxes. They had their principal stations, 
where they remained the entire year, or else sailed in August to Archangel and 
returned in April. In the vicinity of the large stations they had smaller huts, 
where they found shelter when hunting. Such Russian establishments the 
members of the Swedish expeditions found everywhere in their explorations of 
Spitzbergen: at Stans Foreland, at the South Cape, in Horn Sound, (one 
evidently intended to house twenty men, and two smaller ones, each for five 


54 


men,) in Bell Sound, in the Ice Fiord, Green Harbor, Prince Charles Fore¬ 
land, in Cross Bay, in Hamburg Bay, on the main opposite Amsterdam Island, 
on the north coasts of Bed Bay, Wide Bay, Mossel Bay, and on the Northeast- 
land. Norwegians have wintered in Spitzbergen since 1822. 103 The Bussian 
Starastschin wintered in Green Harbor, in latitude 78° N., not less than thirty- 
nine times, once during fifteen successive winters. He finally died there of 
old age in 1826. “It may be boldly asserted,” so it is stated in the report of 
the Swedish expedition in 1864, 104 “that no healthier and more salutary summer 
climate can be found on the globe than that of Spitzbergen. During three 
summers, in which Swedish expeditions have visited this region, there has no 
case occurred among the officers and crews of catarrh, diarrhoea, fever, or any 
other sickness.” 

In Kobbe Bay (latitude 79° 4.1' N.) the Swedes found the ice of a lake 
only six feet thick, and beneath it water of twelve to fourteen feet in depth, 
the temperature of which was at the bottom 34°, on the surface 32°, and at 
the depth of half a foot 32°.4. The bottom was covered with a thick layer 
of green slime, consisting almost exclusively of siliceous algae, diatomacese, 
and others of lower orders, oscillatoriae, and desmiadiaceae; among these 
there were living a species of larva, chironomus, microscopic crustacae, cyclops^ 
and smaller worms. “From this a conclusion may be arrived at with cer¬ 
tainty that the winter is not very cold.” 105 

In Cross Bay (79° 15' N.) the Swede Andrew Lindstrom wintered, 
with twenty-four men, 1843-’44. Cold weather did not set in before New 
Year, and it reached its maximum with the end of the long winter night 
During the winter northerly winds were prevailing; in spring and autumn they 
were westerly and southerly. The sea remained open until New Year, when 
the drift ice arrived ; then the sea froze, in calm weather, but the ice was torn 
from time to time by storms. 106 

That in East Greenland also the winter is remarkably mild has been 
proved by the Danish Captain Graah, who wintered in Nukarbick (latitude 
63° 2T N.) 1829-30, and whose experience cannot be compared in the 
remotest degree with that of the English expeditions among the confused mass 
of islands and on the coasts of the American side. On the 29th of October 
he had still rain, and very mild weather to the end of February, when it 
became colder, but the lowest temperature was —4° and —6°. In Novem¬ 
ber and December there were a few days of from +14° to +9°.5. In Feb- 


ruary and March the sea was free of ice in a distance of twelve to fifteen miles 
from the coast. 107 


4.—THE GULF STREAM AT ITS NORTHERN EXTREMITY, AS FAR AS 
EXPLORED.—THE NORTH POLAR EXPEDITIONS. 

The facts enumerated in the preceding pages are the effects of the Gulf 
Stream in these high latitudes on the coasts and islands washed by it or in its 
vicinity. The course of the Gulf Stream north of Iceland and Europe is 
more complicated than to the southward of these coasts. After coming forth 
intact from its two struggles with the Polar Stream east of Newfoundland 
and east of Iceland, its waters are cooling more and more toward the north 
until they are reduced to a temperature of 39°.4, when they attain their highest 
density and greatest weight. At this temperature it sinks beneath the Polar 
Stream, in July, north of Iceland and Spitzbergen and on both sides of Bear 
Island. Beyond the sea-isotherm of 36°.5, (2° R.,) that is, from the curve at 
which on Chart No. 1 the lightest blue ceases and the white area begins, the 
Polar Stream preponderates decidedly, or at least runs over the immersed Gulf 
Stream, and this takes place partly already within the lightest blue, between 
the isothermal lines 36°:5 and 41°, (2° and 4° R.) The line separating the Gulf 
Stream from the Polar Stream is, for the most part, sharply defined. As far 
as the former reaches, the color of the water is of a beautiful azure blue, and 
fin-back whales, which do not frequent the colder water, follow ships as far as 
the sea retains that color; the Polar Stream, on the contrary, shows a dingy 
green color, caused principally by a multitude of microscopic, slimy, and badly 
smelling algae of the families of diatomaceae and desmiadiaceae. 

In the discussion of the vertical relations of the temperature of the sea, 
(that at the various depths,) the submerging and the rising of currents, or the 
arrangement of warm and cold strata of water over each other, must not be 
left unnoticed, in order to avoid hasty conclusions as to the volume of the 
uppermost stratum. North of the isothermal curve of 39°.4 (3°.3 P.) toward 
the pole, the temperature generally increases with the depth, while southward 
toward the Equator it decreases. There is, however, no uniformity in this, so 
that, for instance—as Lieutenant Rodgers, in 1855, found in the Asiatic part 
of the Arctic Ocean—there is on the surface a warm current with water of a 



56 


low specific gravity, beneath it a cold current, and then again a warm current 
of heavier water, and all these strata running in opposite directions. 

The Gulf Stream sets, north of Europe, in its main direction toward the 
northeast and reaches Bear Island and the extensive shallow bank from which 
the latter crops out. 108 For the third time it meets here the Polar Stream, 
coming from the opposite direction, the northeast, and not, as eastward of 
Newfoundland and Iceland, laterally or about under a right angle. It there¬ 
fore does not press the Gulf Stream to one side, but cuts it into two branches, 
one of which proceeds northward along the west coast of Spitzbergen, the 
other eastward of Bear Island. This latter is the principal arm, the Spitz¬ 
bergen stream a side branch, a blind alley, which has deceived many a ship 
penetrating there and finally turned back by the Polar Stream, which, close to 
the north coast of Spitzbergen, blocks the way of this lateral branch effectually. 

The temperature observations of Lord Dufferin, Koldewey, Nordenskiold, 
and Bessels show that this branch is not only separated at Bear Island from 
the main arm, but also pushed far toward the west, and probably entirely cut 
off, at least in July. The temperature here sinks rapidly from 45° and 41° to 
32° and below 32°, the Polar Stream pressing into the Gulf Stream, accord¬ 
ing to the observations thus far obtained, with a double tongue. 

That this western and weaker arm of the Gulf Stream is conquered in 
the height of summer by the Polar Stream at Bear Island, is not to be won¬ 
dered at, as the latter is extraordinarily voluminous and strong. Koldewey found 
its force between the parallels of 75° and 76° N., in the first days of July 
1868, to be thirteen miles a day, 109 but at the southeast point of Spitzbergen, 
where it sets sharply against the coast from the northeast, its force is much 
greater. Lamont, who staid there the entire July and August of 1859, made 
interesting observations regarding it. At Black Point, a cape of Stans Fore¬ 
land, which is even less exposed to the Polar Stream than the Thousand Isles, 
(compare Chart No. 2,) it passed with such force that six men could not row 
a boat against it. Lamont states it to be there three miles per hour, or seventy- 
two miles a day. At the Thousand Isles it is still more powerful, at times 
168 to 192 miles a day. 110 

That the Polar Stream between Spitzbergen and Bear Island sets with 
great strength westwardly, against the coast of East Greenland, is further 
proven by the circumstance that, according to the experience of whalers and 
sealers, there is always to be found a deep bight in the ice between the par- 


57 


allels of 74° and 76° N. On this experience rests my advice to the first 
German North Polar Expedition, in 1868, to penetrate to the east coast of 
Greenland, in the latitude of this bight, between 741° and 75° N 111 The 
Royal Geographical Society of London published, in 1868, the plan of that 
excellent Scottish mariner, Captain Gray, whose .opinion fully coincides with 
my own when he says: 

Having for many years pursued the whale fishery on the east coast of Greenland, 
and observed the tides, the set of the currents, and the state of the ice in that locality, 
at various seasons of the year, I think that little, if any, difficulty would be experienced 
in carrying a vessel in a single season to a very high latitude, if not to the Pole itself, 
by taking the ice at about the latitude of 75°, where generally exists a deep bight, 
sometimes running in a northwest direction upward of one hundred miles toward 
Shannon Island, &c. 112 

There would be no motive for this bight if the Polar Stream was not 
pressing deeply into the west, in the latitude of Bear Island. Dr. Dorst has 
cruised, in Rosenthal’s steamer Bicnenkorb, for five months in this same region, 
between Shannon and Bear Islands and between Jan-Mayen and Spitzbergen, 
making observations of all kinds each alternate hour, and, among other things, 
he has prepared a very excellent ice chart, which I have at hand. 113 The latter 
shows to the westward of Bear Island, in the drift ice as well as in the heavy 
field ice, a deep bay toward East Greenland, which, from March to August, cuts 
progressively deeper, until it nearly reaches the east coast of Greenland. The 
indentation of this ice bay, or the destruction of ice, reached, during the five 
months of Dorst’s cruise, over not less than 250 or 300 nautical miles. I have 
indicated the bay on Table 18 accompanying the “Gebgraphische Mittheilun- 
gen” of 1869 ; its southwestern limit is marked by an ice edge of 230 miles 
in length, which extends from Jan-Mayeh in a west-northwest direction. When 
the complete results of Dr. Dorst’s observations are published these facts will 
appear more clearly. 

Koldewey’s observations, in the mean time, are sufficient to establish this 
current from east to west. They show that on the parallel of Shannon Island 
to about longitude 11° W. of Greenwich, it has still a west-southwest direction 
and a velocity of eleven miles a day, (compare the observations of June 30,) 
and not until here it meets the East Greenland ice current, which, coming 
directly from the north, now takes a south-southwest and south by west \ west 
course; (compare the observations of June 8, 28, and 29.) 114 

A very striking confirmation of the existence of this westerly Polar Stream 
8 


58 


between Bear Island and Shannon Island is found in Koldewey’s observations 
of the driftwood met by him. He found such exclusively between the lati¬ 
tudes of the south point of Spitzbergen and of Jan-Mayen, just where this 
stream prevails, sometimes in great quantities, and it is evident that it comes 
there directly and in a straight line from the north coast of Nova Zembla, to 
which it drifts from the great Siberian rivers Obi, Jenisei, and Lena, which, 
again, carry it from a great distance,,even from the far, wooded south, near the 
Chinese border. 

Koldewey’s records of the color of the sea indicate clearly that Gulf 
Stream water also is pressed by the Polar Stream far to the west, close to the 
coast of Greenland. As high as latitude 74° N., in longitude 14° W. of 
Greenwich, but seventy miles from the east coast of Greenland, he observed 
the sea striped blue and green; the former known to be the color of the Gulf 
Stream, the latter of the Polar Stream. 

At the south point of Spitzbergen the Gulf Stream is still discernible, at 
least at times, proceeding in a sharp turn around the cape toward the Thousand 
Isles, as I have already stated in another place. 115 To the north and east of 
the Thousand Isles the Gulf Stream, according to Lamont, the best authority 
for this region, has little or no influence at all, and the polar ice drifts there 
always vehemently toward the southwest. But as soon as it arrives at the 
westernmost of the Thousand Islands it gets into the warm water of the Gulf 
Stream and is rapidly dissolved. 116 Such is still the influence of this weaker 
arm of the Gulf Stream against an exceedingly violent polar current in this 
high latitude of 77° N., about six thousand miles from its source in the Florida 
Straits. 

In regard to the currents and the ice in these regions during the winter, 
it appears from the accounts of the Norwegians, who have wintered on Bear 
Island, that most of the ice does not arrive at the latter before the spring and 
summer. 117 Captain Jansen, in an interesting account compiled from the voy¬ 
ages of the earlier Dutch navigators, remarks: “In a common year the south 
cape of Spitzbergen remains, even in winter, free of ice; but after a severe 
winter it may be for some forty or fifty miles to the southward of it surrounded 
by broken ice.” 118 

The thermal observations of Tobiesen at Bear Island show that, at least 
in 1866, the relatively greatest amount of ice, accompanied by the lowest 


59 


temperature, arrived at the island in March and April, and that it came from 
the northeast. 

Up to Bear Island, Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, therefore, the Gulf 
Stream is readily discernible; the question remains, now, whether it exists 
beyond these islands toward the Siberian coast. In regard to this I wrote in 
April 1865 as follows: 

Although the physical atlas and the charts of the world show exactly here, from 
Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla to the New Siberian Islands, the thickest and most per¬ 
manent ice in the world, blocking up all the Taimyr coast, yet already the observations 
of Yon Middendorf have demonstrated how erroneous this supposition is, which, a 
mere fancy, has held, up to our day, so rigid a sway over all the geographical text-books 
and charts. This eminent traveler was prepared—from old accounts and for the reason 
that great and nearly permanent masses of ice are known to exist in the more southern 
Kara Sea—to find, also, the Taimyr Bay full of ice, or perhaps frozen throughout; but 
how agreeably was he surprised when he saw it so entirely free that he could not 
discover even the smallest particle of ice! 119 

If there were no observations but his for this region, then the facts found 
by him might be considered an exception from the rule, the result of an ex¬ 
tremely favorable season; the sea, however, eastward of the Taimyr land and 
north of the New Siberian Islands has, close t© the shores, always been found 
open, as often as these islands were visited, since 1810, by Hedenstrom, Tata- 
rinow,Wrangell, and Anjou. 120 Hedenstrom reports: 

To the north of the islands, in latitude 76° and beyond it, the ocean never freezes. 
Even in March, (when at the not very distant Ust-Jansk the mean temperature is 
—17°.5,) I have seen there but very little drift ice. This is the place from which the 
exploration of the northernmost islands off America and of the north part of Green¬ 
land should be started, to promise success, and from which the North Pole might pos¬ 
sibly be reached in a ship. 121 

Wrangell’s book is so well known, and so readily accessible, that there is 
no need to recapitulate here its details in regard to this always open sea; it is 
sufficient to add that the prevailing current is shown to run from the westward 
to the east and southeast, in the direction of Cape Jakan, where the Polynja 
reaches closest to the coast. Already in 1852 I expressed the opinion that 
this Polynja is but an extension of the Gulf Stream. In forming conclusions 
in regard to this, it must be kept in view that the New Siberian Islands and 
the- open sea lie directly north of the absolutely coldest region of Siberia, which 
may be denoted by a line from Jakutsk to Ust-Jansk, a region, although ex¬ 
tremely cold in winter, yet with a very high temperature in the midst of 
summer, when the neighboring coast is free of ice. At Ust-Jansk (latitude 
70° 55 ; N.) Hedenstrom observed, July 6, 1810, in the sun, 117°.5. 1 




60 


That the Gulf Stream really extends to the coasts of Siberia has not yet 
been established incontrovertibly, but much has been added of late to our 
knowledge of this region by three of the expeditions to the North Pole since 
1865. 

Captain Palliser penetrated, in the last days of July 1869, without diffi¬ 
culty, to about thirty miles north of Cape Nassau, the northwestern point of 
Nova Zembla, and expressed the opinion that he could have sailed, without 
great danger, entirely around Nova Zembla, from doing which he was pre¬ 
vented by other circumstances. 123 

Captain Johannesen came, as early as the 19th of June, 1869, within 
sight of the same cape, a mile to the north of which he found the border of 
the field ice, which, however, was very thin ; there appeared to be no ice to the 
eastward, and a strong current was setting in the same direction. “ I had,” so 
Captain Johannesen states expressly, “nowhere to the south observed so strong 
a current as that at Cape Nassau.” 124 This strong current corresponds entirely 
with the direction and the prolongation of the Gulf Stream, and the thin ice 
so high north with the influences of the latter. 

The most valuable of all the observations obtained so far in the great sea 
between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla are those by Dr. Bessels, who crossed 
it twice in Rosenthal’s steamer Albert during August 1869, observing every 
fourth hour. 125 The meridian of Bear Island divides the Northern Sea into 
two ecpial parts; there are thirty-six degrees of longitude between it and the east 
coast of Greenland, and as many between it and Nova Zembla. The course of the 
ship on her return from Nova Zembla was mainly on the parallel of 74° N., 
and the temperature there in the last days of August was found to be through¬ 
out from 38°.8 to 42°.1, while on the same parallel west of Bear Island, except 
at a single point crossed by Dufferin, it fell in July (according to Dorst and 
Dufferin) to the freezing pointy(32°,) and below it—a very considerable dif¬ 
ference. 

Now, although the temperature on the parallel of 75°, near Nova Zembla, 
is on the average as low as 36°.5, there is the remarkable fact that, exactly 
where the Gulf Stream might be looked for, viz., immediately east of Bear 
Island, north of latitude 75° and beyond 76° N., as far as Bessels penetrated, 
it reaches 42°.4, by which fact the extension of the Gulf Stream into these 
regions is satisfactorily proved. We do not know yet how high it really 
ascends, but further north it surely comes again in collision with the Polar 


61 


Stream and with the drift ice. Dr. Bessels found the border of the field ice, in 
August 18G9, between Hope Island and Nova Zembla, on the average between 
latitudes 76° N. and 77° N. 

How the Gulf Stream, apparently destroyed by the Polar Stream, never¬ 
theless continues on its course may clearly be seen at Spitzbergen The 
branch proceeding there to the north, as we already know, is at Bear Island, in 
latitude 74° N., completely cut through by the Polar Stream, so that, up to 
the southern point of Spitzbergen, the latter, in a width of about 140 miles, 
preponderates entirely, and compels the warm water to sink beneath it. But 
immediately under the lee of Spitzbergen the Gulf Stream, now protected 
against the Polar Stream, rises again to the surface, which then has a tem¬ 
perature of 41° and more, while the sea in the neighborhood, to the southeast, 
is below 32°. In that manner this western branch continues along the entire 
west coast of Spitzbergen, and, although the weaker one, presses still on, north 
of that island, deep into the Central Arctic, up to latitude 82° and beyond. 
There it has been observed by Parry, in July and August 1827, whose obser¬ 
vations in regard to it reach higher north, and are more accurate than all the 
others obtained thus far. He traced it on the meridian of 18° E. of Green¬ 
wich up to latitude 81° 55' N., and on the meridian of 21° E. of Greenwich 
to about latitude 82° 20' N. Following its somewhat curved course from the 
place in 74° N. where it appears to be destroyed, to the northernmost obser 
vations of Parry, this part will be found of a length fully equal to ten degrees 
of latitude. 

When, now, this western weaker branch of the Gulf Stream, after its 
apparent destruction in latitude 74° N., west of Bear Island, is still found at 
such a distance, and when the main arm east of the island has, in latitude 
76° N., still a temperature of 42°.4, should this not justify the assumption that 
the latter extends eastward toward Siberia about as far as the other extends 
west and north of Spitzbergen \ 

We see that the Gulf Stream in its struggles with the Polar Stream is 
temporarily conquered, and compelled to sink beneath it; but we also see that 
it remains strong enough to rise again to the surface. . 

I will, state here at once, emphatically, that I do not base‘upon the exist¬ 
ence and extent of the Gulf Stream in these regions favorable chances for 
an expedition to penetrate into the Arctic; quite the contrary is the case. The 
further north the Gulf Stream maintains its preponderance over the Polar 


62 


Current, presses it back, or detains it, the more will the masses of ice, seeking 
an outlet, accumulate and form a powerful ice-belt, which will be found, cor¬ 
responding to the permanency of the two streams, in all probability at all 
times, and always of about an equal thickness, and at pretty nearly one and 
the same place. To penetrate toward the North Pole by the branches of the 
Gulf Stream east or west of Spitzbergen which extend furthest into the Arctic, 
and to break through the pack ice, appears to me more difficult than to press 
into the Polar Stream, in which, on account of its outlet southwardly, the ice 
distributes more readily and is not apt to pack. The two routes may be com¬ 
pared to mountain passes to be crossed: a long, uniformly-inclined valley leads 
to the one, the elevation is throughout gradual, and therefore easily overcome; 
the road to the other, of the same height goes through a but little inclined 
valley, closed by a high and steep bluff, which to surmount is exceedingly dif¬ 
ficult, if not impossible. 

When urging the expeditions to the North Pole and discussing them, I 
have therefore earnestly advocated not to choose the route along the west coast 
of Spitzbergen, as I believe it to lead into a blind alley of ice. To cross the 
sea between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla should, in my opinion, only be 
attempted by a thorough sailor, who is as familiar with ice belts as, for instance, 
Sir James C. Ross. If Koldewey, in his attempt toward Gillis Land, in July 
1868, had proceeded along the southeastern coast of Spitzbergen, he would 
have been able to penetrate further; surely at least as far as Burgomaster 
Lowenigh in 1827, or Lamont in 1850, or Birckbeck and Newton, 1864. 126 
Koldewey only spent three days in the attempt to break through by the south 
cape of Spitzbergen, and then gave it up; a time entirely insufficient for an 
ice belt or an ice stream. It took James Ross, when breaking through the 
ice belts around the South Pole, at one time not less than forty-six days, from 
the 18th of December, 1841, to the 2d of February, 1842, to work through 
an ice stream of about five hundred miles in width; but he found on the other 
side of it a great open sea, free of ice. 127 If Koldewey had persevered but one 
day longer, he would probably have reached the warm stream of Dr. Bessels. 

Even if it may be quite difficult to penetrate here toward the north, this 
sea nevertheless' surely deserves more attention than heretofore has been ac¬ 
corded to it, as the history of the polar expeditions proves that ice streams, such 
as those met here, open at times, and are never impenetrable for a good sea¬ 
man. It is, therefore, much to be regretted that the expedition projected for 


63 


1870 in the sailing yacht Germania, (alias Greenland,) which I have been able 
to purchase from my collections of 1868, had to be postponed. Dr. Bessels 
and Dr. Dorst, the two well-tried polar voyagers, and Captain Wyprecht, one 
of the earliest friends of German polar exploration, were anxious to extend 
the valuable researches of Dr. Bessels in this region, and were even pre¬ 
pared to provide from their own means for the scientific equipment. I have 
always pointed to the exploration of this region as of the highest importance, 
and have (July 30, 1865) even offered a premium for it of from one thousand 
to two thousand dollars. 128 

To attain results in the Arctic requires, besides nerve, perseverance such 
as shown by James Boss, Johannesen, and others. Much will depend on 
these qualities, also, on the east coast of Greenland. The expedition of 1868 
was instructed by me 129 to try whether it could reach the coast between the 
parallels of latitude 74° and 76°; but I did not exclude a higher latitude as 
far as 80°. Unluckily this has been neglected, and not the slightest attempt 
has been made by Koldewey between latitudes 76° and 80°. It is still very 
questionable whether it would not be less difficulty to reach the coast between 
76° and 80° than between 74° and 76°. Although there is, between the latter, 
always a bight of open water cutting deeply into the ice toward the west, this 
bight is caused directly by the pressure of the Polar Stream and the polar ice of 
Bear Island, and it is therefore not improbable that the route between 76° 
and 80° may prove the easier. Scoresby, in his brilliant voyage of discovery 
in 1822, could not reach the coast on the parallel of 74°, but he had perse¬ 
verance enough to work for six weeks through the drift ice, and found his 
reward by reaching the coast further south, whence he could work along it 
toward the north. 

We know now the most weighty facts (but not yet sufficiently considered 
and valued) to prove that the Gulf Stream does not cease or sink and disap¬ 
pear entirely between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. Going from there to 
the regions.of Northeast and New Siberia, discovered and explored by He- 
denstrom, Tatarinow, Sannikow, Wrangell, Anjou, and others, we first come to 
Taimyr, the northernmost land of Siberia, the winter of which, as far as Yon 
Middendorf could ascertain, is relatively very mild, decidedly milder-than 
further south, and abounds in fish. 130 

On the ice and the climatic properties of Northwest Siberia in summer 
new light has been shed by the cruise of the Norwegian fisherman, Johanne- 


64 


sen, 131 , and by those of Palliser and Carlsen in I860. 132 Their accounts fully 
agree with the experience of Lopatin in 1866: 

No ice was found (July and August 1860) by Lopatin in the Jenissei Bay, where, 
in latitude 72° N., it meets the Arctic. The Dolganes living in the vicinity assured him 
that they never find ice when arriving at the bay in the last part of summer. Russian 
settlers stated that in summer ice is seen on the sea only with winds from the west and 
northwest, never when the wind blows from the north and northeast. It is remarkable 
that the members of the expedition who penetrated to the sea on the right bank of the 
mouth of the Jenissei could never leave off their winter clothing, while those who were 
occupied on the west side suffered from the heat and from myriads of mosquitoes. 133 

Already Von MiddendorfF had seen at the northernmost point of Asia, in 
summer, 1843, the Arctic, lying before him, completely open and so free of 
ice that he could not detect the smallest piece. 134 

That there is, in general, north of the entire coast of Siberia, as high as 
it has been possible thus far to advance, from 70° to 76°, a “never-freezing 
open sea,” with “but very little drift ice,” 135 even in the coldest month, is a 
fact which for sixty years past has been examined into over and over again, and 
always found to be true ; in winter time by Hedenstrom, Tatarinow, Sannikow, 
Wrangell, Anjou, and others; in summer by Johannesen, Palliser, Carlsen, 
Lopatin, MiddendorfF, Kellett, Rodgers, Long, Mohr, &c .—a fact the more 
remarkable as that sea lies north of the coldest region of the world. 136 There 
has so far been only one single expedition on the broad Arctic for the ex¬ 
pressed purpose of exploring the polar domain, that of Wrangell, of four years’ 
duration. This expedition, starting from the coldest land of the world in the 
month when the ice was thickest, and following a northern course on a very 
shallow sea, found the ice to be getting, step by step, thinner and more broken, 
until it came to an entirely open sea, at one place at a distance of five Russian 
werst or three nautical miles from the shore. 137 

The average temperature of the Siberian Arctic Sea east of the mouth 
of the Kolyma, for the summer, is, according to the observations of AVrangell, 
in July, 37°.6 ; in August, 37°.0. 138 

The current observations of Wrangell in Northeast Siberia exhibit the 
following remarkable facts: The currents in that region, as is known, set in 
spring and summer to the west, in fall and winter to the east, 139 in the direction 
of the Gulf Stream. The preponderance of the latter direction is evident 
from the fact that Wrangell, on his third voyage, March 26, 1822, in latitude 
72° 10' N., longitude 166° E. of Greenwich, found on the drift ice the traces 


of his sleigh which were impressed there in April 21, geographically to the 
westward of the present position, (as he says, thirty-five werst or twenty miles, 
but as I make it, seventy werst, or double the distance;) the current here was 
east-southeast. 140 


5.—DRIFT WOOD IN THE ARCTIC. 

Of more importance than all these observations is the existence and the 
diffusion of drift wood in the Arctic Ocean, one of the most remarkable phe¬ 
nomena. Dr. Oscar Peschel says appropriately: 141 

Just as Columbus inferred the existence of a continent in the far west from the 
tropical wood which he saw drifting into the Canaries, with the same certainty we may 
conclude, from the Siberian logs which we find on the coasts of Spitsbergen, that the 
Arctic bordering Siberia throws oft* its ice. North of Siberia and east of Spitzbergen 
the sea must be free in summer, that the drift wood carried down the Obi, the Jenissei, 
and the Lena, may reach Spitzbergen. 

The same author remarks, further: 

Although Swedish naturalists say, without arguments for proof, that this wood is 
carried there by the Gulf Stream, we rather would take it to be from Siberia, for geo¬ 
graphical reasons, as the Gulf Stream could not possibly throw it on the east coasts. 

The Swedes found, especially on Northeastland, huge masses of drift 
wood and other drift produce, for instance, on Shoal Point, the westernmost 
cape, a low sandy point. 142 They reported: 

The shore is covered everywhere with an incredible mass of drift wood, among 
which aye pieces of pumice-stone, birch bark, cork, raft wood from the Lofode Islands, 
and other articles carried there by the current, The drift wood was piled in a long line 
along the shore. Higher up was another wall, which the water could hardly reach, even 
in spring tides. The wood constituting this wall, which probably had been lifted to¬ 
gether with the coast, was older and on the point of crumbling to decay. Torrel, when 
examining all this, found, among other things, a well-preserved bean of “ Entada giga- 
lobium ” a West Indian legume. This bean, about one and a half inches in diameter, 
carried by the Gulf Stream across the Atlantic Ocean, is frequently thrown on the 
coasts of Norway, and, in this instance, offers the best proof that the Gulf Stream also 
reaches the north coast of Spitzbergen. 

The shores also of the Seven Islands, in their lower parts, were found 
covered with drift wood, ship timber, a great quantity of pumice-stone, birch 
bark, raft wood, timber marked with Roman letters, and remains of whale skel¬ 
etons, &c. There are also great quantities of drift wood found on Castrdn 
Island, at Cape Lovdn, as well as along the entire north coast of Northeastland, 
at Low Island, in Lomme Bay, on the coast ot the Westfiord in Wide Lay, on 

Moffen Island, and on the southernmost cape of Spitzbergen. On the west 
0 



66 

coast and in Wide Jans Water single trunks of trees and logs are found but 
exceptionally. 143 

The Swedes contend, 144 with good reason, that the drift products of the 
West Indies, such as Entada gigalobium , are the best proof that the real Gulf 
Stream extends to the northeast coast of Spitzbergen. But it is not less 
interesting that all the vast masses of drift wood come from Siberia, and that 
each single piece of it is an equally sure and unmistakable proof establishing 
the fact that the Arctic between Spitzbergen and Siberia gets open sufficiently 
to permit its reaching there. 

We have seen that the meeting of a polar with an equatorial stream causes 
drift ice, as at Newfoundland; we also have seen that the drift ice may 
pack near the place of meeting, so as to form an ice belt more or less perma¬ 
nent, as for instance north of Spitzbergen and between Spitzbergen and Nova 
Zembla; hence we may infer conversely from the drift wood, &c., which we 
find on the northernmost coasts of Spitzbergen, a meeting there of the Gulf 
Stream with the Polar Stream, and we may further conclude that the Gulf 
Stream extends to the north coasts of Northeastland and to the Seven Islands. 
The Swedish memoir says: “Only when we had reached Cape Wrede, one of 
the northeasternmost capes of Spitzbergen, no more things belonging to Nor¬ 
way were found, except a few harpoons and oars, which probably were carried 
there by the coast current.” There was, however, also here, on the most 
remote parts of the Northeastland, abundance of drift wood. 145 

From this it appears probable that the Gulf Stream does not reach these 
coasts, but that they are reached by the drift wood of the Siberian rivers. 

The opinion of Swedish writers that the drift wood found at Spitzbergen 
is carried there by the Gulf Stream has, of late, been adopted very generally 
But as early as 1852 I expressed publicly my conviction that it comes exclu¬ 
sively from the Siberian rivers, and is carried not only to Spitzbergen but also 
to Greenland. 146 Irminger said, as early as 1854,'that in his opinion much of 
the drift wood thrown on the north coast of Iceland comes from Siberia. 147 

Lamont also, who in 1859 found vast masses of drift wood everywhere in 
Southeast Spitzbergen and on the Thousand Islands, says positively that it con¬ 
sisted, without exception, of pine wood, which doubtless comes from Siberia. 148 
Birkbeck also, and Newton, who in 1864 penetrated to the Ryke-Ise Island, 
express their belief that the drift wood found there comes from Siberia, and is 
not carried there by the Gulf Stream. 149 


67 


In view of the importance of this subject, I added to my instruction for 
the first German North Polar expedition of May 8, 1868, in section 25, the fol- 
lowing: 

An interesting and important result of the Polar Current is the drift wood of the 
arctic regions, found sometimes in vast masses, especially on all the coasts which 
either lie toward Siberia or are exposed to the currents coming from Siberia. Of this 
drift wood the greatest possible number of specimens should be taken on board and 
marked as to the place where they were found, so that after the return of the expe* 
dition inquiries might be made into their origin and conclusion arrived at in regard to 
the currents. 150 

Koldewey staid near the southern end of Hinlopen Straits from August 
22d to September 10th, fully three weeks, and found there great quantities of 
drift wood. 

The specimens of drift wood brought home by the Swedish expedition 
were examined carefully by J\ Gr. Agardh, who has proved beyond contradic¬ 
tion that not a single piece of it belongs to any other species of wood than 
the Siberian larix, and that consequently none of it could have been carried 
there from southern regions through the Gulf Stream, but that all came from 
Siberia. 151 


6.—THE OBSERVATIONS OF DEEP-SEA TEMPERATURE—DRIFT CUR¬ 
RENTS AND WINDS—THE BRITISH SOUNDING EXPEDITIONS OF 
1868 AND 1869. 

Although the temperature and the currents at the various depths of the 
ocean are of the very greatest importance, I cannot now, for want of space, 
discuss them more fully, but must confine myself, for the time, to the surface. 
To establish the great streams rolling along on the surface of the ocean and 
their properties is, at present, the main problem. If these are complicated, 
and but very imperfectly known, how much more must this be the case with 
the same phenomena at greater depths, where there are relatively but a few 
isolated observations. 

In entering upon the question it must be borne in mind that water is 
heaviest at a temperature of 39°.2, 152 and that it arranges itself in the various 
depths according to the specific gravity in strata, either above and beneath, or 
alongside each other. From the place where the sea shows at the surface a 
temperature of 39°.2, it will lose in temperature toward the Pole, while in 



68 


general it will gain with the increase of depth, but toward the Equator the 
temperature of the surface will increase, while it will decrease downward in 
proportion. 

A useful and interesting table of average temperatures of the ocean from 
80° N. to 80° S., at the surface and at various depths to two thousand 
fathoms, has lately been prepared by Keith Johnston, jr. It is based on 
more than seven hundred observations, nearly all in the Atlantic Ocean, by 
the following observers: Ross, Lee, Chimmo, Carpenter and Thomson, 
Scoresby, Franklin, Parry and Fisher, Dayman, Shortland, and Fitzroy. The 
means are given of the observations for each tenth degree of latitude as 
follows: 153 



We will inquire now into a few of the observations of deep-sea tempera¬ 
ture within the limits of the Gulf Stream. Parry, in latitude 57° 5f N, lon¬ 
gitude 41° 05' W. of Greenwich, on the 13th of June, 1819, observed the sea 
to have a temperature on the surface of 40°.5, and at a depth of 235 fathoms, 
39°; the Gulf Stream therefore had there, one hundred and thirty nautical 
miles south-southeast of Cape Farewell, a depth of at least 1,410 feet. 154 

One hundred and forty miles northeast of this place, in latitude 59° 35' 
N., longitude 38° 09' W. of Greenwich, Captain Knudsen, on the 30th of 
June, 1859, found the temperature of the surface 44°.6, and at 300 fathoms 
43°.4, which corresponds with Parry’s measurements. 155 



































































69 


Wallich remarks that on the parallel of latitude 63° N., not far from the 
south coast of Iceland, the temperatures on the surface and at a depth of 100 
fathoms differ in the average not more than 3°.8; “that consequently the Gulf 
Stream does not lose essentially in temperature to that depth.” 157 

On Irminger’s chart of the currents and ice drifts around Iceland there 
is in Brede Bugt, (Broad Bay,) in latitude 65° 17' N., longitude 23° 25' AY. of 
Greenwich, (about eighteen miles northwest of Stykkisholmr,) a temperature 
recorded of 46° at the surface and of 45°.5 at a depth of 60 fathoms. The 
Gulf Stream at this place, in the vicinity of the polar circle, is therefore at least 
360 feet deep. 158 

Scoresby during the years from 1810 to 1817 has made the following 
observations between the parallels of latitude 76° N. and 80° N. 159 

Scoresby' 1 s observations of deep-sea temperatures , 1810 to 1817 . 


Date. 

Position^ 

Sea. 

Temperature of 
air. 

Situation of 
the ship. 

Latitude N. 

Longitude 

from 

Greenwich. 

Depth in 
feet. 

Tempe¬ 

rature. 

Specific 

gravity. 

Color. 


Q / 

o / 







April 19,1810 

76 16 

9 00 E. 

Surface.. 

28.8 

1.2061 

Blue. 

12 

Beset in ice. 




300 

31.8 


_do. 






738 

33.8 

1.0270 

....do. 






1,380 

33.3 

1. 0269 

_do. 



April 23,1810 

76 1 6 

10 50 E. 

Surface.. 

28.3 

. 

.... do. 

16 

Frozen up. 




120 

28.0 


_do. 






300 

28.3 


_do. 






738 * 

30. 0 


.... do. 



April 23,1811 

76 34 

10 00 E. 

Surface.. 

30.0 

1.0265 

....do. 

25 

Frozen up. 




120 

31.0 

1.0264 

-do. 






240 

35.0 

1. 0266 

....do. 






360 

34.0 

1.0268 

_do. 






600 

34.7 

1. 0267 

_do. 



May 1,1811 

77 15 

8 10 E. 

Surface.. 

29.3 

1.0267 

....do. 

16 

Beset in ice. 




120 

29.3 


.... do. 






240 

29. 3 


.... do. 






360 

30. 0 


.... do. 






600 

30. 0 


_do. 



May 20,1813 

77 40 

2 30 E. 

Surface.. 

29.0 

1.* 0267 

Greenish .... 

30 

Among floe 




300 

29.3 

1. 0265 

....do . 


ice. 




660 

31.0 

1. 0262 

....do . 





















































70 


Scoresbtfs observations of deep-sea temperatures , &c, —Continued. 


Date. 

Position. 

Sea. 

Temperature of 

air. 

Situation of 
the ship. 

Latitude N. 

Longitude 

from 

Greenwich. 

Depth in 
feet. 

Tempe¬ 

rature. 

Specific 

gravity. 

Color. 


o / 

o / 







May 20,1816 

79 00 

5 40 E. 

Surface.. 

29.0 


Olive green.. 

34 

Moored to a 




78 

31.0 

33.8 


_do. 


floe. 




222 


_do. 






342 

34.5 


_do. 






600 

36.0 


_do. 






2, 400 

36. 0 


....do . 



May 21,1816 

79 04 

5 38 E. 

Surface.. 

29.0 

1. 0269 

_do. 

38 

Among floe 




4, 380 

37.0 

1. 0265 

_do. 


and field ice. 

June 7,1816 

80 00 

5 00 E. 

Surface.. 

29.7 

. 

_do .. 

40 

Beset in the 




720 

36.3 


_do. 


ice. 

June 7,1817 

78 02 

0 10 w. 

Surface.. 

32.0 


Blue. 

36 

In the vicin¬ 




4,566 

38.0 


_do. 


ity of ice. 


Scoresby remarks: “From the fact of the sea near Spitzbergen being 
usually six or seven degrees warmer at the depth of one hundred to two hun¬ 
dred fathoms than it is at the surface, it seems not improbable that the water 
below is a still farther extension of the Gulf Stream, which, in meeting with 
water near the ice lighter than itself, sinks below the surface, and becomes 
a counter under-current.” 156 

This assumption appears, on first sight, not to be supported by the obser¬ 
vations of Koldewey ; 160 but when the temperatures of the surface and the 
gravity of the water are properly considered they accord well enough. 

I must postpone, however, as already stated, the especial investigation of 
deep-sea temperature to another occasion, perhaps until the return of the 
second German North Polar Expedition, which, it is hoped, will add mate¬ 
rially to the data now at hand. I will here only now discuss in a few 
words the following question: If the Gulf Stream is considered to be not a 
voluminous-deep-water course of the ocean, but only a drift current, or, in 
other words, a shallow, thin surface current caused by and dependent on the 
winds, what would then necessarily be its condition ? 

Those who assume the Gulf Stream to be merely a drift current cannot 










































71 


possibly have well taken into consideration the system of winds prevailing 
between Newfoundland and Spitzbergen, in the sea north of the latter to 82o N- 
and at Nova Zembla. The supposition, that southwesterly winds prevail in the 
North Atlantic Ocean between the 30th and the 60th parallels of latitude, may 
suffice for a rough generalization of the winds in toto, but surely not for their 
relation to the Gulf Stream. If considered the propelling power of so won¬ 
derful a water-course from the equatorial ocean to 82° N. latitude, they vary 
in the different seasons, and even in one and the same season, so extraordinarily 
that the Gulf Stream would be compelled to take other directions in summer 
than in winter, and again at one and the same time to run at one place to the 
northeast, at another to the southwest, at a third to the east, at a fourth to the 
southeast, and so forth. The best representation of the winds of the North 
Atlantic Ocean to latitude 50o N, in the four seasons, is to be found in the 
charts published by the British Board of Trade ; 161 a single glance at these will 
be sufficient to show that the Gulf Stream, even to the south of latitude 50 N.» 
requires other motors beside the winds. There might be, however, after all, a 
drift stream possibly carried with the wind up to latitude 50° or 60° N. 

But to the north of the parallel of latitude 60° N. northerly winds are the 
prevailing ones, blowing directly in the face of the course of the Gulf Stream. 
Considering but the relatively limited region between Newfoundland and Ice¬ 
land, we find the winds to prevail in January: at Newfoundland from the 
northwest, in Greenland from the east, while at Iceland they blow in nearly 
equal proportions from all directions. 162 

On the Norwegian coast, according to Mohn, the wind at Vardoe is gen¬ 
erally from the southwest, but in July from the southeast; in Andenes mostly 
from the-south, in July from the west; in Villa southeast, in July southwest; 
in Aalesund southwest, in July west; in Bergen mostly south, but in July 
north; in Lister northwest, in January east; in Lindesnes west, in January 
northwest. 163 

The most important treatise on the winds of the globe is that lately pub¬ 
lished by Alexander Buchan ; 164 it contains twelve charts, one for each month 
of the year, the study of which I recommend. Buchan describes the prevail¬ 
ing winds between Norway, Scotland, and Iceland as follows: In all Scotland 
and toward the west, at least to the Faroe Islands, the winds in winter are 
from the southwest, but very few from the east or northeast. In Iceland, 
however, the mean direction of the wind is east-northeast; on the west coast 


72 


of Norway the prevailing direction in the winter is southeast, or south-south¬ 
east, or, in other words, the wind blows from the land, where the temperature 
is extremely low at that time. In the summer the winds in Iceland are 
easterly, with some northing in them; in Scotland the western are prevailing, 
and in Norway they blow in the opposite direction of those in winter. 165 

If the warm North Atlantic Current depended entirely upon the winds, 
how different and how irregular would it then be' necessarily at the various 
places and in the various seasons of the year! The Gulf Stream is much 
more regular, more constant, and more powerful than all the various winds 
throughout its course. A glance only at the sea-temperature stations, marked 
on the accompanying charts in red color, must refute the theory of a 
drift current; if, for instance, Iceland should receive its high temperature in 
winter through winds or a drift current, they must come directly from the 
south, but in that case they could not at the same time be the cause of the tem¬ 
perate weather of Norway, &c. 

The Gulf Stream withstands the influence of the coldest winter and winds. 
Striking cases are offered by the observations of Dr. Hayes in Smith’s Sound, 
while he wintered at Port Foulke. During the most severe weather, with the 
thermometer below the freezing point of mercury, once even at —70°, the sea 
in the vicinity, a branch of the Gulf Stream, was always open, so that the beat¬ 
ing of the waves against the shore and against each other could always be 
heard, also when the sun did not appear for months, and the sea could not be 
seen. 166 But the warmest portion of the Gulf Stream has, on the contrary, 
not the least influence upon the temperature of the United States, although 
running very close to its coast, not only because its direction is from the 
coast and the cold Labrador Stream running south intervenes between it and 
the coast, but also because the prevailing winds prevent the influence. Bos¬ 
ton, for instance, situated in latitude 42 N., only about 320 miles from the hot 

(77°) tongue of the Gulf Stream, has a mean temperature in January of 27°, 
while Havo, in latitude 71^° N., near the North Cape, distant by air line at 
least 3,450 miles from the same tongue, still has 29°.5. 

Winds tempered by the Gulf Stream and then blowing over distant cold 
regions, have sometimes an astonishing influence, as, for instance, at Omenak, 
in Northern Greenland, latitude 70J° N., where the east-southeast winds 
coming from the Gulf Stream, although they have to cross first the extensive 
glaciers of Greenland, possess, when arriving, still so high a temperature that in 


73 


January and February they cause a rise of the thermometer of 34° above the 
monthly mean, (which is for January —6°.2.) Hence the unsteadiness of the 
climate in that region, and the very great fluctuations in the annual means, as, 
for instance: 

December 1831, +17°.6; January 1820, +20°.8; March 1840, +18°.7. 
December 1832,—18°.8; January 1835,—16°.0; March 1832,—16°.8. 167 

After the foregoing had been written and set in type I received, through 
the kindness of Professor Thomson, of Belfast, memoranda, charts, and pro¬ 
files in manuscript of the results of *the British Sounding Expedition in the 
North Atlantic Ocean, between the Faroe Islands and Spain. In view of the 
great importance of these results I deem it proper to add here the following 
table of the thermometric observations of the expedition, at the surface of the 
sea and at various depths to 2,435 fathoms: 

Thermometric observations by the expedition in her Britannic Majesty's ship Porcupine in the 
North Atlantic Ocean , between the parallels of latitude 47° 38' and 62° 01', at depths 
to 14,010 feet , from May 31 to September 7, 18G9. 168 


Date. 

Position. 

Temperature of surface. 

Deep-sea tem¬ 
perature. # 

Date. 

Position. 

Temperature of surface. 

Deep-sea tem¬ 
perature. 

Latitude N. 


Longitude from 

Greenwich. 

Depth in fathoms. 

1 

Temperature. 

Latitude N. 


Longitude from 

Greenwich. 

Depth in fathoms. 

Temperature. 


Q 

, 

„ 

0 

, 

„ 





O 

, 

„ 

o 

, 

„ 




May 31 

51 

51 

00 

11 

50 

00 TV. 

54.0 

370 

48.9 

July 30 

51 

01 

00 

11 

21 

00 TV. 

60.6 

458 

48.2 

J une 1 

51 

22 

00 

12 

25 

30 TV. 

54.0 

808 

41.4 

Aug. 16 

59 

23 

00 

7 

04 

00 TV. 

53.8 

374 

46.0 

June 1 

51 

38 

04 

12 

50 

32 Vf. 

54.5 

723 

43.0 

Aug. 16 

59 

34 

00 

7 

18 

00 TV. 

54.0 

542 

43.7 

June 2 

51 

56 

28 

13 

39 

40 TV. 

53.4 

251 

49.5 

Aug. 17 

59 

43 

00 

7 

40 

00 TV. 

53.6 

475 

45.5 

June 2 

52 

07 

04 

12 

52 

08 TV. 

54.0 

364 

48.9 

Aug. 17 

59 

54 

00 

7 

52 

00 TV. 

52.5 

355 

46.2 

June 3 

52 

25 

20 

11 

40 

30 TV. 

54.0 

90 

50.0 

Aug. 18 

60 

06 

00 

8 

14 

00 TV. 

51.6 

440 

41.9 

June 4 

52 

14 

00 

11 

48 

00 TV. 

53.1 

159 

50.5 

Aug. 18 

60 

25 

00 

8 

10 

00 TV. 

52.0 

384 

30.6 

June 10 

53 

15 

30 

11 

51 

00 TV. 

54.0 

106 

51.1 

Aug. 18 

60 

25 

00 

7 

26 

00 TV. 

52.0 

490 

30.0 

June 11 

53 

16 

25 

12 

42 

00 TV. 

53.4 

165 

49.8 

Aug. 19 

59 

56 

00 

6 

27 

00 TV. 

52.5 

363 

31.5 

June 11 

53 

23 

00 

13 

29 

00 TV. 

54.5 

85 

49.6 

Aug. 19 

60 

04 

00 

6 

19 

00 TV. 

52.5 

605 

29.8 

June 14 

53 

41 

00 

14 

17 

00 TV. 

52.3 

670- 

42.6 

Aug. 19 

60 

02 

00 

6 

11 

00 TV. 

52.5 

480 

30.9 

June 14 

53 

42 

00 

13 

55 

00 TV. 

53.6 

208 

49.6 

Aug. 19 

60 

14 

00 

6 

17 

00 TV. 

52.0 

632 

30.6 

June 15 

53 

48 

45 

13 

15 

30 TV. 

53.1 

173 

49.6 

Aug. 20 

60 

21 

00 

6 

51 

00 TV. 

51.4 

540 

30.9 

June 16 

54 

05 

00 

12 

17 

00 TV. 

52.3 

422 

47.1 

Aug. 20 

60 

21 

00 

5 

41 

00 TV. 

52.7 

580 

29.8 

June 16 

54 

18 

50 

11 

49 

50 TV. 

52.9 

816 

39.4 

Aug. 21 

61 

03 

00 

5 

58 

00 TV. 

49.5 

167 

44.4 

June 17 

54 

32 

10 

11 

44 

40 TV. 

52.7 

1, 425 

40.6 

Aug. 24 

62 

01 

00 

5 

19 

00 TV. 

50.2 

114 

44.8 

June 17 

54 

28 

45 

11 

44 

00 TV. 

52.7 

1,230 

37.8 

Aug. 24 

61 

59 

00 

4 

38 

00 TV. 

.49.6 

125 

44.6 

June 18 

54 

15 

00 

11 

09 

00 TV. 

53.1 

183 

49.3 

Aug. 24 

61 

57 

00 

4 

02 

00 TV. 

48.9 

317 

30.4 

June 28 

54 

53 

30 

10 

56 

00 TV. 

54.5 

1, 360 

37.4 

Aug. 25 

61 

21 

00 

3 

44 

00 TV. 

49.6 

640 

30.0 

June 29 

55 

11 

00 

11 

31 

00 TV. 

55.4 

1,443 

36.7 

Aug. 26 

61 

10 

00 

2 

21 

00 TV. 

52.0 

345 

30.0 

June 30 

55 

40 

00 

12 

46 

00 TV. 

56.1 

1,476 

36.5 

Aug. 26 

61 

15 

00 

1 

44 

00 TV. 

52.5 

267 

45.7 

July 1 

56 

08 

00 

13 

34 

00 TV. 

57.0 

1, 263 

37.2 

Aug. 27 

60 

32 

00 

0 

29 

00 TV. 

51.8 

64 

49.1 


10 






















74 


Thermometric observations , —Continued. 


Date. 

Position. 

Temperature of surface. 

Deep-sea tem¬ 
perature. 

Date. 

Position. 

Temperature of surface. 

Deep-se 

peral 

sa tem- 
;ure.’ 

£ 

© 

'V 

3 

P 


B 

z 

£ 

© 

% 

a 

z 

p 

A 

O 

% 

Pi 

© 

© 

© 

1 

A 

3 

p 

p, 

© 

p 

OQ 

a 

o 

p 

3 

a 

rg 

P 

© 

P 

© 

* 

g 

I* 

.2 

% t 

c © 

£ ® 

■Sc 5 

5 

p 

00 

a 

o 

p 

51 

■B 

rg 

Pi 

© 

P 

6 

u 

© 

p . 

a 

© 

H 



O 

f 

n 

0 

/ 

„ 






o 

, 

n 

0 

, 

// 




July 

1 

56 

07 

00 

14 

19 

00 tv. 

57.2 

630 

43.5 

Aug. 27 

60 

23 

00 

0 

33 

00 E. 

52.5 

75 

43.9 

July 

2 

56 

13 

00 

14 

18 

00 tv. 

57.0 

420 

46.4 

Aug. 27 

60 

01 

00 

0 

18 

00 E. 

53.4 

67 

43.7 

July 

2 

56 

26 

00 

14 

28 

00 tv. 

57.6 

109 

46.4 

Aug. 28 

60 

04 

00 

0 

21 

00 TV. 

53.4 

66 

45.0 

July 

3 

56 

41 

00 

13 

39 

00 w. 

56.8 

164 

46.4 

Sept. 

1 

60 

17 

00 

2 

53 

00 TV. 

52.9 

103 

48.6 

July 

3 

56 

58 

00 

13 

17 

00 tv. 

57.4 

345 

46. 6 

Sept. 

1 

60 

20 

00 

3 

05 

00 W. 

52.3 

76 

48.9 

July 

3 

57 

30 

00 

13 

30 

00 tv. 

55.6 

54 

48.2 

Sept. 

1 

60 

29 

00 

3 

06 

00 TV. 

52.7 

84 

48.9 

July 

5 

56 

44 

00 

•12 

52 

00 tv. 

57.6 

1,215 

37.0 

Sept. 

1 

60 

39 

00 

3 

09 

00 TV. 

52.5 

203 

47. 7 

July 

5 

56 

34 

00 

12 

22 

00 tv. 

56.7 

1,264 

36.7 

Sept. 

1 

60 

45 

00 

3 

06 

00 tv. 

51.4 

250 

41.9 

July 

6 

56 

24 

00 

11 

49 

00 tv. 

55.9 

1, 380 

37.0 

Sept. 

2 

60 

36 

00 

3 

58 

00 w. 

50.2 

344 

29.8 

July 

6 

56 

15 

00 

11 

25 

00 tv. 

56.7 

1,360 

37.2 

Sept. 

2 

60 

34 

00 

4 

40 

00 tv. 

50.9 

560 

29.8 

July 

7 

56 

05 

00 

10 

23 

00 tv. 

55.9 

1, 320 

37.4 

Sept. 

2 

60 

14 

00 

4 

30 

00 tv. 

52.0 

290 

41. 4 

July 

20 

50 

38 

30 

9 

27 

00 w. 

64.2 

74 

49.6 

Sept. 

3 

59 

44 

00 

4 

44 

00 w. 

52.0 

76 

48.9 

July 

20 

49 

51 

30 

10 

12 

00 tv. 

66.0 

75 

.49.6 

Sept. 

3 

59 

49 

00 

4 

42 

00 tv. 

53.1 

92 

49.3 

July 

21 

49 

07 

CO 

10 

57 

00 tv. 

63.3 

96 

51.1 

5ept. 

3 

59 

54 

00 

5 

01 

00 TV. 

53.1 

142 

49.1 

July 

21 

48 

50 

00 

. 11 

09 

00 tv. 

64.0 

725 

43.9 

Sept. 

3 

60 

00 

00 

5 

13 

00 TV. 

52.3 

312 

41.2 

July 

22 

47 

38 

00 

12 

08 

00 w. 

65.5 

2,435 

36.5 

Sept. 

3 

60 

06 

00 

5 

08 

00 TV. 

53.1 

362 

37. 4 

July 

24 

47 

39 

00 

11 

33 

00 tv. 

64.2 

2, 090 

36.3 

gept. 

4 

59 

34 

00 

6 

34 

00 TV. 

54.3 

155- 

49.1 

July 

26 

49 

01 

30 

11 

56 

30 TV. 

63.0 

557 

46.8 

Sept. 

4 

59 

40 

00 

6 

34 

00 TV. 

53.8 

190 

48.7 

July 

26 

49 

01 

30 

12 

05 

00 tv. 

63.3 

517 

47.7 

Sept. 

4 

59 

48 

00 

5 

31 

00 TV. 

53.6 

445 

30.2 

July 

26 

49 

04 

00 

12 

22 

00 tv. 

63.3 

584 

46.4 

Sept. 

6 

59 

35 

00 

9 

11 

00 TV. 

52.5 

767 

41. 5 

July 

27 

49 

12 

00 

12 

52 

00 w. 

62.6 

862 

39.6 

Sept. 

6 

59 

26 

00 

8 

23 

00 TV. 

53. 4 

705 

42.6 

July 

28 

50 

01 

00 

12 

26 

op tv. 

61.7 

1, 207 

37.6 

Sept. 

7 

59 

38 

00 

7 

46 

00 TV. 

53.1 

445 

45.5 

July 

29 

50 

20 

00 

11 

34 

00 tv. 

61.3 

865 

39.4 

Sept. 

7 

59 

41 

00 

7 

34 

00 TV. 

53.1 

458 

45.1 


These temperatures of the surface of the sea agree well with the results 
of my Chart No. 1. The researches of this expedition are, in regard to the 
currents and the temperature of the North Atlantic Ocean at various depths, 
the most important of all carried out thus far. Their result is represented in 
the four profiles on the accompanying plate ; it is, indeed, unexpected and won¬ 
derful. The reports published previously were but preliminary; the memor¬ 
anda communicated to me now are new, and constitute the final result of all 
the material collected and discussed. 

This final result is, in a high degree, a confirmation of my opinion, which 
I expressed five years ago, and have repeated again in the first lines of this 
memoir, that the Gulf Stream reaches to Europe and farther, and that it consti¬ 
tutes a deep and voluminous stream, not a surface drift, weak and dependent 
upon the winds. 

The English explorers prove undeniably that the Gulf Stream has, between 



















Sections 

representing the observations of the temperature-and. current relations 
in theHorth Aft an lie Ocean, 
iron? 17° 38 to 67° 27 north Tat. 
by the Expedition in Ti.M. Ship 7 J oreupinr 
July to September J86.9. 1,19 


Southwest of the 

Between the 


1 

Faroe Islands 

Faroe 8-ShetlandIs. 


Sea of Biscay 

59' 35 -N. 

61° 21 TsT. 

At 

47°38'JSr. ' 

9° 11' W 

3° 44 W 

Boelcall. 

12° H’ W 

Sept, 6.1869. 

Aug. 25.1869. 

July1869. 

July 22J869 


Srrrt/rcc ot'thc Sen. 


■ Ynt-s/ur of '/He Sea 


Surfitee off tie Serv 


Surface office- 



The 4 columns represent the deep-sen soundings, and the 
tempera tine observations to a depth of24.'iolhtlufmsatvarious 
places of the orcftn.the figures to the right of each eo/nrnn are 
tempera fate observations iff Fahrenheitls sente.to the left the 
depths in fathoms. The Gull Streams occupies thertryo upper 
strata, the uppermost shows the depth snhfeet to insolation. 
The three lower strata .with different shading, etpresentthe 
are fie .and an tan-tie e/f treats. 


Tfrfttom of t7ii^ea 


Iimi^HU. Ogilvio Co. Luk 


Temperature- no Jiilfi-en h a t 











































75 


Ireland and Spain, still a depth of 900 fathoms, and equally as much near the 
Roc kail Rock, west of the Hebrides. Between Rockalland the Faroe Islands, 
near the parallel of latitude 60° N., it reaches to the bottom of the sea, which 
has a depth there of 767 fathoms, and at that depth the Gulf Stream has still 
a temperature of 41°.5. 

It would require truly a strong wind to cause currents of 900 and 767 
fathoms in depth! 

Between the Faroe and the Shetland Islands, where my Chart No. 1 shows 
already the influence of a polar current from Jan-Mayen into the German Sea 
the Gulf Stream is but 200 fathoms deep, a third of the entire depth of the 
ocean in that region, still an immense stratum, notwithstanding the quantitative 
preponderance of the Polar Stream. 

Very interesting are also the results of the observations of the insolation, 
the influence of the sun on the upper stratum of the sea. It was traceable in 
latitude 61° 2F N., on the 25th of August, to a depth of 25 fathoms; in lati¬ 
tude 59° 35 / N., on the 6th of September, to 50 fathoms; at Rockall, in July, 
also 50 fathoms, and in the Sea of Biscay (47° 38' N.) to 75 fathoms. 

But the most wonderful is that the English savants have found weighty 
reasons to assume the existence of an antarctic current directly over the bottom 
of the sea, clear up to the Irish and Scottish coasts, meeting there an arctic 
stream. 170 In the notes of Professor Thomson, 171 now before me, the stratum 
at Rockall, from 900 to 1,400 fathoms below the surface, is designated as “Cold 
indraught, arctic and antarctic,’’ (temperature 39°.2 to 37°.4,) and the stratum 
between 900 and 2,435 fathoms between Ireland and Spain as, “Indraught of 
cold water, probably mainly antartic, falling in by gravitation principally,’’ (tem¬ 
perature, 39°.2 to 36°.5.) 


7.—THE SALT OF THE OCEAN AND ITS RELATION TO THE GULF 
STREAM—BOTTLE EXPERIMENTS. 

The salt of the ocean is an excellent medium for inquiry into the currents 
of the same. The greater the evaporation, (as in the seas of the torrid zone,) 
the greater is the proportion of salt in the ocean; the smaller the evaporation, 
(as in the polar seas,) the less salt is contained in the sea. Seas with great evap¬ 
oration, but without sweet water tributaries, as. for instance, the Red Sea, 
contain more salt than those into which sweet waters empty; and the pro- 



76 


portion of salt grows less in'the seas of the temperate and frigid zones, which 
have a permanent influx of sweet water through rivers and glaciers. A swim¬ 
ming iceberg, moving from higher into lower latitudes and melting more and 
more* lessens perceptibly the saltness of the sea surrounding it. 

The Mediterranean Sea, which is exposed to the hot and dry winds of 
Africa, promoting evaporation, contains a greater proportion of salt than the 
great ocean in general, viz., y?fo, (exactly 37.396,) or nearly one twenty-sixth; 
that is, in 1,000, or 26 parts of water respectively 38 or 1 equal parts of salt. 
The mean saltness of the'North and South Atlantic Ocean, between the South 
Cape of Greenland and Cape Horn, is 35.8; that of the Indian Ocean, between 
Africa and the East Indies, 33.8; of the great ocean between the East Indies 
and the Aleutian chain, 33.6, and between the Aleutian groups and the Society 
Islands, 35.2. 

The saltness of the German Sea is, in the mean, 32.8; of the Kattegat 
and the Sound, 16.2; of the Baltic Sea, only 4.9; of the Black Sea, 15.9. 

The Red Sea has (according to the analytical examinations to date) the 
absolutely greatest proportion of salt, viz., 43.067, or one twenty-third; and 
the harbor of Cronstadt, in the Bay of Finland, the absolutely smallest, viz., 
0.610, Or T75T9. 

George Forchhammer, Professor of the University and Director of the 
Polytechnical Institute at Copenhagen, published, 172 in 1865, a voluminous 
treatise on the nature of the sea-water in all parts of the world, based upon 
researches for twenty years, the results of which for the North Atlantic Ocean 
and its bays, north of the 30th degree of latitude, are exhibited in the following 
table, arranged according to the proportion of salt: 


77 


Proportion of salt (number of parts of salt in 1,000 parts of sea-water) in the Gulf Stream 
and the adjoining regions of the North Atlantic Ocean , between 30° and 80° N. latitude. 
By Professor George Forchhammer . 

I.—From 37..0 to 34.0 parts of Salt to 1,000 parts of Sea-water. 


• 

Locality. 

Position. 

Parts of 

salt. 

Observer and date. 

Latitude N. 

Longitude 
from Green¬ 
wich. 

• 


o 

/ 

6 

/ 




North Atlantic Ocean. 

38 

18 

43 

02 

W. 

36.9 

Ornen, November 9,1846. 

Do.. 


32 

52 

68 


W. 

36.6 

Yon Dockum, August 3, 1843. 

Do.. 


37 

05 

48 

24 

W. 

36.6 

Ornen, November 7, 1846. 

Do.. 


31 

51 

67 

23 

W. 

36.5 

Yon Dockum, August 3, 1843. 

Do.. 


55 

45 

20 

30 

W. 

36.5 

Unknown. 







36.4 

Schulz, September 28, 1860. 

North Atlantic Ocean. 

40 

21 

54 

15 

W. 

36.4 

Von Dockum, August 13, 1843. 

Do.. 


40 

53 

36 

23 

W. 

36.4 

Ornen, November 11, 1846. 

Do.. 


36 

13 

55 

7 

W. 

36.3 

Ornen, November 5, 1846. 

Do.. 

.do. 

39 

39 

55 

16 

W. 

36.3 

Yon Dockum, August 13, 1843. 

West of Spitzbergen. 

76 

15 

13 

15 

E. 

36.3 

Nordenskiold and Blomstrand. 

North Atlantic Ocean. 

37 

24 

61 

8 

W. 

36.1 

Von Dockum, August 7, 1843. 

' Do.. 


47 

10 

18 

45 

W. 

36.1 

Ornen. 

Do.. 


47 

18 

21 

6 

W. 

36.1 

Von Dockum. 

Do.. 


48 

10 

9 

35 

W. 

36.1 

Ornen. 

. Do.. 

.do. 

44 

39 

30 

20 

W. 

36.0 

Ornen, November 13, 1846. 

Do.. 


46 

22 

22 

55 

W. 

36.0 

Ornen, November 15, 1846. 

Do.. 

.do. 

36 

52 

66 

38 

W. 

35.9 

Yon Dockum, August 6, 1843. 

Do.. 


47 

17 

14 

24 

W. 

35.9 

Ornen. 

Do.. 

.do,. 

47 

40 

32 

7 

W. 

35.9 

Yon Dockum. 

Do.. 

.do. 

47 

45 

9 

30' 

W. 

35.9 

Schulz. 

Do.. 

.do. 

47 

17 

19 

9 

W. 

35.6 

Yon Dockum. 

Do.. 


47 

50 

33 

50 

W. 

35.6 

Yon Dockum. 

Do.. 

.do. 

50 

3 

11 

6 

W. 

35.6 

Yon Dockum. 

Do 

do_......... 

51 

9 

12 

11 

W. 

) 


Do.. 


55 

32 

13 

59 

w. 

>35.6 , 

Porcupine.* 

Do.. 

.do. 

59 

50 

7 

52 

w. 

35.6 

Gram, May 5, 1845. 

Do.. 


64 

30 

26 

24 

w. 

35.6 

Scliaffner, September 3, 1860. 

Do.. 


60 

9 

14 

7 

w. 

35.5 

Gram, May 7, 1845. 

Do.. 


64 

15 

27 

8 

w. 

35.5 

Scliaffner, September 6, 1860. 

Do.. 

.do. 

60 

20 

7 

20 

w. 

35.4 

Gram, 1845. 

Do.. 

.do. 

59 

50 

26 

23 

w. 

35.4 

Gram, May 15, 1845. 

Do.. 

.do. 

60 

30 

26 

37 

w. 

35.4 

Gram. 

Do.. 

.do;. 

64 

16 

24 

1 

w. 

35.4 

Scliaffner, September 2, 1860. 

Do.. 

.do. 

63 

25 

29 

36 

w. 

35.4 

Scliaffner, September 8, 1860. 


* Between the two positions. 


















































































78 


Proportion of salt in the Gulf Stream, &c.~ Continued. 


Locality. 

Pos 

Latitude N. 

iition. 

Longitude 
from Green¬ 
wich. 

Parts of 

salt. 

Observer and date. 


o 

/ 

o 

/ 



• 

North Atlantic Ocean. 

63 

34 

27 

35 

W. 

35.4 

Schaffner, September 9, 1860. 

Do.do. 

60 

23 

33 

32 

W. 

35.4 

Gram, May 18, 1845. 

Do.do. 

61 


16 

32 

W. 

35.3 

Gram, 1845. 

Do.do. 

59 

58 

20 

30 

W. 

35.3 

Gram, May 10, 1845. 

Do.do. 

62 

15 

23 

3 

W. 

35.3 

Paludan, May 10, 1845. 

East coast of Greenland. 

62 

47 

37 

31 

W. 

35.3 

Schaffner, September 10, 1860. 

Do.do... 

62 

17 

38 

18 

W. 

35.3 

Schaffner, September 11, 1860. 

North Atlantic Ocean.. 

60 

9 

5 

19 

W. 

35.2 

Paludan, May 8, 1845. 

Do.do. 

63 

24 

33 

23 

W. 

35.2 

Schaffner, September 9, 1860. 

Do.do. 

59 

26 

39 

4 

W. 

35.1 

Gram, May 20, 1845. 

Do.do. 

58 

58 

36 


W. 

35.0 

Gram, September 1, 1845. 

Do.do. 

57 

57 

46 

1 

W. 

35.0 

Gram, May 22, 1845. 

North of the Straits of Dover.. 






35.0 

Yon Dockum, September 16,1845. 

North Atlantic Ocean. 

60 

25 

3 

15 

W. 

34.8 

Skibsted, 1844. 

East coast of Greenland. 

59 

49 

40 

56 

W. 

34.7 

Schaffner, September 14, 1860. 

Davis’ Straits. 

60 

32 

53 

11 

W. 

34.4 

Gram, May 26, 1845. 

On the coast of Norway. 

70 

30 

19 

5 

W. 

34.4 

Nordenskiold and Blomstrand. 

Between the Orkneys and Nor¬ 






34. 3 

1844. 

way. 


* 






North Atlantic Ocean. 

44 

33 

42 

34 

W. 

34.1 

Yon Dockum, August 18, 1843. . 


2.—From 34. 0 to 30.0 parts of Salt to 1,000 parts of Sea-water. 


North Atlantic Ocean.. 

North of Spitzbergen. 

Twenty-four miles west of Disco. 
Eight miles from Godliavn,Disco. 
Southwest of Egersund,Norway - 

West coast of Greenland. 

Do.do. 

Do.do. 

Do.do. 

German Sea, Skager Rack. 

West coast of Greenland. 

German Sea. 

East coast of Greenland. 

German Sea. 


43 26 

80 

69 45 

69 50 

44 19 W. 

12 E. 



60 

68 43 

62 8 

64 41 


52 45 E. 



66 58 



60 49 

41 45 W. 




33.9 
33.6 

33.6 

33.4 
33.3 
33.2 

33.2 
33.1 

32.9 

32.7 

32.3 
31.1* 

30.5 
30.5 


Yon Dockum, August 17, 1843. 
Blomstrand. 

Rink, July 5, 1849. 

Kaiser, September 3, 1845. 

1844. 

Gram, June 12, 1845. 

Kaiser, August 30, 1845. 

Gram, June 2, 1845. 

Kaiser, September 5, 1845. 

Yon Dockum,September 18,1845. 
Kaiser, September 4, 1845. 

Yon Dockum,September 18,1845. 
Schaffner, September 30, 1860. 
Back. 


































































79 


Proportion of salt in the Gulf Stream , &c. —Continued. 


3. —FllOM 30. 0 TO 10. 0 PARTS OF SALT TO 1,000 PARTS OF SEA-WATER. 



Position. 



Locality. 


Longitude 

Parts of 

salt. 

Observer and date. 


Latitude N. 

from Green- 





wieh. 




o / 

o / 



Sound . 



23.2 

April 17 to September 11, 1846. 




Cattegat. 



19.9 

Skibsted 1844 

Cattegat, nortli of Anliolt. 



17.4 

June, 1845. 

Cattegat, nortli of Cullen. 


' 

17. 3 

June, 1845. 

Copenhagen . 



15. 8 

March 3 to April 21, 1852. 

San defiord, southeast coast of 



14.0 

Strecker. 

Norway. 





Cattegat, north of Cullen. 



11.3 

April, 1845. 

Copenhagen.. 



10.9 

October 4, 1846. 

4.—From 10. 0 to 0. 6 parts 

of Salt to 1,000 parts of Sea-water. 

Between Bornholm and Sweden. 



7.5 

Bellona. 

Between Aland and Gothland .. 



7.3 

Bellona. 

Baltic, northeast of Gothland .. 

58 27 

20 E. 

7.1 

Bellona. 

Gulf of Finland. 



6.9 

Bellona. 

Svartklubben, north of Stock¬ 



5.9 


holm. 





Gulf nf Finland __ _ 



4.8 

Bellona. 

Gulf of Finland_ 



3.6 

Bellona. 

Gulf of Finland, west of Cron- 



0.7 

Bellona. 

stadt. 





Commercial harbor of Cronstadt 



0.6 

Bellona. 

5.—Mediterranean Sea. 

Between Candia and Africa .... 

33 34 

24 34 E. 

39.3 

Schulz, October 28, 1860. 

Between Sardinia and Naples .. 

40 25 

11 43 E. 

38.7 

Schulz, October 20, 1860. 

East of Malta. 

36 10 

16 10 E. 

38.5 

Schulz, November 13, 1860. 

South of Barcelona. 

41 12 

2 23 E. 

38.3 

Schulz, October 10, 1860. 

Between Barcelona and Corsica. 

42 25 

6 E. 

38.3 

Schulz, October 12, 1860. 

Between the Balearic Isles and 

40 28 

1 48 E. 

38.1 

•Schulz, October 8, 1860. 

Spain. 





Between Malta and Greece. 

37 20 

16 32 E. 

38.0 

Schulz, October 23, 1860. 

PnaifiAti nnlninwn 



37.7 

From the Analyses Chimiques. 

Malta ... 



37.2 

Ennis, 1837. 

East of Gibraltar. 

36 09 

4 02 W. 

37.0 

Schulz, September 29, 1860. 

Straits of Gibraltar. 



36.4 

Schulz, September 28, 1860. 




















































Proportion of salt in the Gulf Stream , &c. —Continued. 
6—Black Sea. 



Position. 



, Locality. 

Latitude N. 

Longitude 
from Green¬ 
wich. 

Parts of 
salt. 

Observer and date. 

Fifty English miles from the 
Bosphorus. 

Black Sea.... 

o / 

o > 

18.1 




17.7 

Gobel. 

Azov Sea..... 



11.9 

Gobel. • 





From these data I have constructed a saltness chart of the Gulf Stream 
and of the North Atlantic Ocean, with curves of equal saltness, which agree 
surprisingly with the results of the accompanying Charts No. 1 and No. 2. I 
am sorry that the space allotted to this memoir in the “Geographische Mitt- 
heilungen” does not permit at present the publication of this chart. 

The greatest saltness of the ocean (36.928) is to be found at the vertex of 
the Gulf Stream, in latitude 38° 18' N., longitude 43° 02' W. of Greenwich, 
close to the July curve of 77 (20 Rdaumur) temperature on the accompany¬ 
ing Chart No. 1; there is only one spot, from that place to the Equator, of 
a higher proportion. The salt curve (36.0) trends high to the north in the 
direction of Iceland, the Hebrides, and the British Channel, but the sea 
between Scotland and Iceland loses in saltness, averaging on and north of the 
parallel of latitude 60° only 35.4, and in one place, west of the Shetland Islands, 
it is even only 35.2, from observations made principally in May. North of the 
Shetland Islands we have but three observations: one close to the coast of 
Norway north of Tromsoe : the second west of the southern cape of Spitzber- 
gen near the July isothermal curve of 41°, (4° Re'aumur;) and the third north 
of Spitzbergen in latitude 80° N. 

That the saltness of the sea between Scotland and Iceland lessens in 
May to 35.2, agrees entirely with the fact that about this time a branch of the 
Polar Stream descends into this region and presses the Gulf Stream to the 
south and the east. Really wonderful is the agreement of the two charts west 
of the south cape of Spitzbergen, where the one (No. 1) shows the Gulf 
Stream risen again to the surface, and the saltness chart in latitude 76° 15' N., 












81 




longitude 13° 15 7 E. of Greenwich, according to the analyses of Nordenskiold 
and Blomstrand of the Swedish expedition, a saltness of the sea of not less 
than 33.254. North of Spitsbergen, in latitude 80° N., longitude 12 E < { 
Greenwich, it decreases again to 33.323; but if it is considered that the salt¬ 
ness of the eastern parts of the German Sea is only 30.0, that proportion 
(33.62) in the Arctic north of Spitzbergen is still a very great one, and testi¬ 
fies most strongly to the extension of an arm of the Gulf Stream as far as 
this latitude. 

Professor Forchhammer obtained through Colonel SchafFner and Captain 
Gram comparatively quite numerous specimens of water from the sea between 
Iceland and East Greenland, the analysis of which gave the unexpectedly high 
proportion of 35.6, to explain which he ventured repeatedly the opinion that 
the East Greenland Current (so called by him) cannot be a polar stream, but 
is in reality the Gulf Stream “returning from the north along the east coast of 
Greenland.” 173 That it is not a polar stream is true, but it is by no means a 
branch of the Gulf Stream returning from the north ; on the contrary, it is the 
Gulf Stream itself coming directly from the south, which, as we have seen, 
causes not only the high temperature of the west coast of Iceland in winter 
and summer, but even presses back the Polar Stream from the north coast of 
Iceland. 

The analyses of Dr. Forchhammer corroborate in a high degree the 
fact, deduced from the temperature observations, that the Gulf Stream reaches 
quite close to the southeastern coast of Greenland and compresses there the 
Polar Stream, coming from the north, into a minimum of width on the sur¬ 
face; within its reach the saltness lessens to 30.5, but only to about twenty 
miles from the coast; east of that distance the saltness increases rapidly. 

The saltness observations agree furthermore excellently with the Labra¬ 
dor Stream cutting into the Gulf Stream. Mistaking the system of currents, 
Dr. Forchhammer ascribes the low saltness there to the St. Lawrence River, 
although it empties* into the ocean at a distance of about nine hundred miles 
from this region, and is, besides, carried by the cold North American coast cur¬ 
rent to the southwest, so that its waters cannot reach so far east. 

Of great interest also are Dr. Forchhammer’s researches in regard to the 
surface and deep-sea currents of the Cattegat and the Sound, 174 which, together 
with Lord Dufferin s temperature observations in the same region in 1856, 
11 


82 


throw new light on the surface and sub-surface branches of the Gulf Stream, 
as well as of the Polar Stream, as far as into the German Sea. 

•But one of the most important facts for the knowledge of the Gulf Stream, 
established by the inquiries into the saltness of the ocean, is the relatively 
great proportion of salt found in the southeastern parts of Davis’ Strait and 
Baffin’s Bay. The temperature observations, especially of the Montreal Steam¬ 
ship Company, have shown us (Chart No. 1) that the Gulf Stream, imme¬ 
diately after arriving at Newfoundland, turns in a sharp bend and proceeds to 
the north and northwest, leaving to the Polar Stream but a relatively narrow 
bed, which is fully confirmed by the salt chart; the saltness there in latitude 
43° 26' N., longitude 44° 19 x W. of Greenwich, is but 33.9, and this low fig¬ 
ure is distant only 300 nautical miles from the high proportion 36.9. 

As the current charts of Maury, Findlay, Beechey, and others do not 
show the currents correctly even in this region, the desire is surely justified 
that so valuable data for the better knowledge of the currents, as the researches 
into the nature of the sea-water furnish, should be obtained in a greater extent 
also for those parts of the ocean where there are yet but few observations’ 
as, for instance, in the German Sea; and as specimens of sea-water can be 
obtained so readily, it may well be expected that this branch of physical re¬ 
search will hereafter find more attention. 

There have also until lately less reliable means been employed to ascertain 
and establish the system of currents, as, for instance, the bottle experiments, 
since the beginning of this century. Admiral Irminger (in the annexed 
memoir) remarks in regard to them very correctly as follows: 

These experiments result frequently in very unreliable arguments for the direction 
of the currents, because the bottles used for the purpose are generally so light that 
they are propelled as much by the wind as by the current. If there are bottles to be 
used for ascertaining the direction of currents, they must, in order to escape the 
influence of the wind, be made expressly so thick and heavy that but little of the bot¬ 
tle can remain above the surface of the sea. 

But still more precarious is, in my opinion, the manner in which the 
results of the experiments in most cases were made use of. Marking on the 
chart the places where the bottle had been dropped overboard and where it 
had been fished up again, a straight line was drawn between the two, and this 
generally accepted as the approximate course made good by the bottle. 

In this way there will be found not only on the bottle charts published 
by Daussy and Becher since 1840, but already on Rennell’s chart of 1832, a 


83 


number of bottle courses in the North Atlantic Ocean, all of which are from 
west to east, some from the vicinity of Cape Farewell and Davis’ Strait across 
the ocean to Ireland. 175 They can still be seen on the current chart of the 
Atlantic Ocean in the Physical Atlas of Professor Berghaus. 176 Surely not one 
of these bottles has traveled the way thus laid down; they have been pro¬ 
pelled first with the Labrador Stream southeast until the same meets the Gulf 
Stream, and then with the latter to the northeast. The course of the bottles 
from Baffin’s Bay directly to Europe, as laid down, is exactly the reverse of the 
true current, and it is evident that the bottle experiments are the main cause 
of the erroneous representation, up to our days, of the currents between Lab¬ 
rador and the British Isles, as, for instance, in Maury’s and Findlay’s 177 charts, 
&c. 

Immediately after Captain Becher had published, in 1843, his first “bottle 
chart,” 178 protests against it, and especially against the irrational way of being 
made use of, were published by eminent men, as, for instance, Sir John Ross, 
who designated it directly a “bottle fallacy,” fortifying his opinions with very 
weighty reasons and with many cases of his experience. 179 A long, at times 
angry, controversy followed; but now it appears to be pretty generally ac¬ 
cepted that the bottle experiments are of no great value scientifically, and 
that they must be made use of with precaution and under the guidance of the 
general system of currents. 

For some time they have been decidedly out of fashion, but many current 
charts, even of late edition, suffer yet from the results of erroneously inter¬ 
preted bottle experiments. 


8.—THE GULF STREAM BETWEEN THE PARALLELS OF LATITUDE 33° 
N. AND 82JQ N.—RECAPITULATION. 

After having traced, on the preceding pages, the Gulf Stream from its 
hot sources to the Arctic to within 7§ degrees of the North Pole, demon¬ 
strating and establishing it by figures and facts, I shall now review briefly the 
entire phenomenon, which in its influences may well be termed the mainstay 
of the culture of Europe and of the world. 

1. The hot source and core of the Gulf Stream extends from the Straits 
of Florida along the North American coast, at all times, day and night, in win- 



84 


ter as in summer, even in January, with a temperature of 77° and more, up to 
the 37th degree of northern latitude, while at the same time and in the same 
latitude in Africa (Tunis) the temperature of the air is but 53°.4. The Gulf 
Stream transports and develops still in this latitude a higher temperature than 
water and air possess in the Atlantic Ocean even under the Equator, on which, 
neither in July nor in January, the temperature is ever as high as that of the 
Gulf Stream in latitude 37° N. 

2. Under the 37th and the 38th degree of northern latitude the hot core 
of the Gulf Stream turns away from the American coast toward the east, 
beyond the meridian of Newfoundland and its banks to 40° longitude W. of 
Greenwich, where it still possesses a temperature in July of about 75°, and in 
January of about 66°. From there it proceeds to the northeast, diffuses 
nearly across the entire Atlantic, and surrounds the whole .of Europe, to the 
Arctic and the White Sea of Archangel, with a broad and permanent warm- 
water course, without which England and Germany would be a second Lab¬ 
rador, and Scandinavia and Russia a second Greenland, buried beneath 
glaciers. Where, as in Fruholm, (71° 06' N.,) the sun does not rise at all above 
the horizon during the entire month of January,in a latitude in which,in Asia and 
America, the mercury remains frozen for months; there the Gulf Stream pre¬ 
serves for the sea a temperature as high as 37.8. While the sun in the short 
days of winter sends forth his rays of light and warmth but for a few hours, 
and the influence of the latter is quickly lost again in the long nights, the Gulf 
Stream does not cease, day or night, to be the source of warmth. 

The Gulf Stream carries, according to the computations of James Croll, as 
much heat to the north as 3,121,870 square miles (English) under the Equa¬ 
te u receive fiom the sun; and this is computed further to be more than the 
total amount of heat which is carried by all the warm-air current from the 
entire periphery of the Equator toward the. North Pole and toward the South 
Pole. The southwest winds receive their high temperature from the Gulf 
Stream; and only through the ocean, not by the winds, can warmth be car¬ 
ried into latitudes as high as those of the European coasts are. 180 

3. The Gulf Stream, as a whole, is as yet but little explored; we only 
know its influence in some degree. How limited our knowledge of it is may 
be inferred, for instance, from Ihe fact that there are the most contradictory 
statements of its velocity and strength. A. G. Findlay, one of the principal 


85 


authorities on the Gulf Stream, computed (1869) its velocity as requiring one 
to two years to reach Europe from Florida, while, according to my computa¬ 
tion, two months would suffice. There are many cogent supports for the lat¬ 
ter, for instance the following: When General Sabine, in 1823, was at Ham- 
merfest, barrels of palm-oil drifted on shore there belonging to a vessel which 
had been wrecked in the preceding year at Cape Lopez, on the African coast, 
in the vicinity of the Equator; comparing now the distance which these bar¬ 
rels have drifted with that from Florida to Europe, by the way of the Gulf 
Stream, the latter would require not one to two years, but only two months. 

4. To conclude from the soundings, obtained so far, the Gulf Stream 
must be, up to the Arctic Ocean, a deep and voluminous water course; if it 
should not be so, the polar ice would reach also the European coasts. In the 
Antarctic Ocean the polar ice drifts all around the globe, as far at least as lati¬ 
tude 57 J 5' S., in many places to 50° and 40°, (latitudes corresponding respect¬ 
ively to those of the British Channel and the Mediterranean Sea;) on some 
even to 35°, (corresponding to the latitude of Morocco;) but not the smallest 
particle of northern polar ice has ever reached even the northernmost cape of 
Europe. The Gulf Stream, in its course, is more powerful and steady than 
all the winds; only the polar ice and the polar currents, in spring and summer, 
exercise a great influence over it. The Polar Stream presses at three places 
against it; first from the northwest, east of Newfoundland; then from the 
north, east of Iceland; at both these places the Polar Stream is buried and 
proceeds beneath the Gulf Stream, after having pushed it off laterally to the 
southeast. But for the third time, at Bear Island, the Polar Stream comes 
directly against the Gulf Stream, from the northeast, splits it into two or 
three branches, and in places even presses it beneath its own waters, at least 
in July. Under the lee of Spitzbergen this latter branch rises again and pro¬ 
ceeds on the surface, according to Parry’s observations, 181 to latitude 82J° N. 
The main branch,-east of Bear Island, has been traced by Dr. Bessels to lati¬ 
tude 76° 08' N., where in August 1869 it possessed still a temperature of 
41°.2. 

5. These three conflicts with the polar currents cause the summer (July) 
isothermal lines of the Gulf Stream to make deep cuts at the respective places, 
and to assume a certain concavity of form which will not be found in those of 
the winter, (January.) But even if the July curves, when compared with 


86 


those of January, appear pressed back somewhat to the south, they show, 
nevertheless, in the whole a very high temperature for the entire North 
Atlantic basin from Labrador and Greenland to Europe, Spitsbergen, and 
Nova Zembla. A great depression of the temperature of the surface is caused 
by the Polar Stream descending east of Iceland, and, after its. collision with 
the Gulf Stream, proceeding beneath the latter, principally when reaching the 
shallow German Sea. It is evident that this branch of the Polar Stream, and 
the winds blowing from it, are depressing also the summer temperature of a con¬ 
siderable part of Western Germany. The temperature and the currents of the 
German Sea are, alas, a field still nearly entirely barren, but it is to be hoped 
that the German navy, German vessels and sailors, and German nautical societies 
and institutions, by delivering the ocean which washes the German shores 
from such a status, will yet participate a little in researches for which other 
nations in Europe and America have already done so much and deserved so 
well. It is pretty certain that a sub-surface polar current reaches, in summer, 
from Iceland and Jan-Mayen to the German coast, but there have been so far 
hardly any inquiries made about it. A remarkable confirmation of this sup¬ 
posed current is, for instance, the pumice .stone (from Iceland or Jan-Mayen?) 
thrown on the North German coasts. 182 

6. In winter (January) the Gulf Stream is cut into much less. The 
pressure of the Polar Stream at Newfoundland is hardly visible on the chart, 
the curves being simply parallel with the coasts; east of Iceland a Polar 
Stream proceeding to the southeast cannot be inferred at all from the obser¬ 
vations of the temperature of the sea at Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, 
and Norway, which bear toward each other quite different relations in January 
and in July. The relations in winter between Bear Island and Spitzbergen 
are yet unexplored, but we have known for a long time the grand effects of a 
relatively high-tempered sea up to Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, even in the 
Taimyrland and Northeast Siberia. The polar streams, in conformity with 
the general laws of nature, are less powerful in the winter than in the summer; 
the polar ice does not drift as far southward; it makes fast, more or less, to 
the arctic coasts and islands; in spring and summer, on the contrary, it drifts 
along, similar to the glacier tongues in Alpine mountains, or the ice in our 
rivers. The Gulf Stream is in winter more powerful than in summer; while 
the polar streams, so to say, set at rest in some measure, withdraw their ice 
and concentrate it around the land. A striking proof of this is offered, for 


87 


¥ 


instance, by W. C. Redfield’s chart of the drift ice at Newfoundland, compiled 
from observations between 1832 and 1844. 183 Of one hundred cases of ice 
seen, eighty-seven occurred in April, May, June, and July; of the remaining 
thirteen there are seven in March, three in August, two in February, and one 
in January; none at all in September, October, November, and December, and 
from the 14th of August to March but three cases; therefore during the entire 
winter there is, so to say, no drift ice at all. 

7. The relations of the temperature of the Gulf Stream, within them¬ 
selves, are about the same in Jailuary as in July. In the latter month the 
isothermal curve of 6° Reaumur (45°.5 Fahrenheit) runs from Newfoundland 
far toward the north, beyond the whole of Europe; it corresponds in general 
with the January curve of 2° R., (36°.5 F.;) the amplitude of the Gulf Stream, 
therefore, that is, the fluctuation between its maximum and minimum temper¬ 
ature, (July and January, or August and February,) would be, on the average, 
only about 9°, (4° R.) 

What immense contrast to this extraordinarily constant temperature is of¬ 
fered by the temperature of the air on the mainland ! It may be seen at a glance 
in the entirely different directions of the isothermal lines for July and January 
on the accompanying charts. From the sea and air isothermal line of 2° R. 
(36°.5 F.,) at Philadelphia, to Northumberland Sound, with —40°, the distance 
is 2,280 miles, nearly due north. There is, therefore, in about each thirty 
miles a fall in temperature of one degree. From the same point at Philadel¬ 
phia to the Gulf Stream east of Fruholm, on the same isothermal line of 2° 
R. (36°.5 F.,) there are in the direction of the Gulf Stream, in an air-line, 
about 5,400 miles, in which distance there is no fall at all in the temperature 
of the Gulf Stream : there, one degree fall in each thirty miles; here, the same 
temperature along 5,400 miles in a northeast direction. Such is the influence 
and the power of the Gulf Stream! In the latitude of Berlin, which has a 
mean temperature of the air in January of 28°, the Gulf Stream has 50 ; at 
the Faroe Islands, still 42°.I; but in Jakutsk, in the latitude of the Faroes, 
the air is 40° below zero, a difference of 82°.l. 


To the Gulf Stream exclusively the facility is due with which it is pos¬ 
sible to reach each year near Spitzbergen to latitude 80° N.; just by following 
its course the Norwegian fishermen come in open boats to within ten degrees 
of the North Pole, and Englishmen visit in light sailing vessels Spitzbergen, for 



pleasure and to hunt. In no other region of the world, in the high north or 
the high south, exist similar means to penetrate so far toward the Pole. The 
drift ice obstructs navigation, at an average, in the northern hemisphere 
twenty degrees of latitude; in tlie southern it is met thirty degrees nearer the 
equator. 

13ut where in these high latitudes the branches of the Gulf Stream cooled 
down to about 3y°.8, dive beneath the Polar Stream, there thickly packed ice 
may surely be expected^at one and the same place and at all times. I deem 
it, therefore, advisable for polar expedition^ to penetrate soon into the Polar 
Stream, the ice of which is not so thickly packed, but more diffused. The 
ice, which in the Polar Stream drifts to the south during the summer, does 
not return, and must leave behind places free of ice, which would easiest be 
reached within the Polar Stream. Hence the instructions to the German 
expeditions to make for the east coast of Greenland. When a simple fisher, 
Johannesen, succeeded in reaching, through waters considered to be very diffi¬ 
cult, the east and the west coast of Nova Zembla everywhere, in latitudes 74 , 
75°, 76°, and 76i°, then surely the same should be possible, with the aid of 
steam, in East Greenland, for a scientific expedition fitted out for the purpose. 

Our knowledge of the globe, besides, will not be promoted greatly if 
expeditions always take the same old route, as, for instance, along the west 
coast of Spitzbergen, which has been followed innumerable times for the last 
three hundred years. There would be little prospect on such routes of dis¬ 
covering anything. 

The exploration of the polar regions being urged now most strongly in 
all quarters, it may well be expected that, after exertions for three hundred 
years, they soon will be opened at last, and the physical geography of our globe 
materially completed. The great German expedition is now, I hope, fully at 
work, and Swedes, French, and Americans—nations who have done already 
much in this cause—are preparing for new exertions. 

I have deemed it my duty, were it only on account of these new expeditions 
in prospect, to undertake the preparation of this memoir, incomplete as it may be, 
since it had to be built up anew from the foundation, and a great mass of. 
unpublished data for the establishment and the proper representation of the 
currents of the North Atlantic Ocean had to be solicited and collected from 
distant sources. The knowledge of the temperature of the sea is, particularly 
in Europe, still in its infancy, and observations of.value were made during the 


89 


last years only by the Scottish and Norwegian institutions and societies; but 
there were many thousand isolated observations on the high seas which never 
had been brought yet in proper relation to each other. 

It is most remarkable that, in treating a subject of the nature of that 
before us, even in our day, one authority should ignore another entirely, (I do 
not refer to shallow compilations,) or should not make use of previous obser¬ 
vations in investigating its own. This, however, is really a fact: the Dutch 
treatises do not refer to the American examinations; Whitley ignores both; 
Jrminger did not take notice of Dufferin, Inglefield, and many other eminent 
British authorities, and so forth. These sins of omission encouraged me to 
attempt a compilation which might better have been undertaken by more 
competent authority, a Dove, or a public institution established for the purpose. 

I deemed my labors, which I consider but preliminary, highly rewarded, 
when I found how wonderfully the data, collected from so heterogeneous 
sources, did agree on the two charts constructed from them. A single observa¬ 
tion, however, of the temperature of the sea is, on account of the ordinary 
constancy of the latter in most cases more reliable than observations through 
years of the temperature of the air in the interior of a continent, which is sub¬ 
ject to great fluctuations; and differences as great as those referred to on page 
73 even between the mean monthly temperature of the air of various years 
can never occur in the temperature of the sea. But publications of this 
nature should never be limited so as to give only mean values for great areas, 
as for instance those of the Netherland Institute, Whitley, and others; on the 
contrary, full tables of the single observations, with accurate designation of 
their places, should always be appended. 

I would plead here for the importance of a chartographic representation 
of such subjects; the chart will better permit us to draw inferences and arrive 
at conclusions and results, than the best written book; both in connection 
will convey intuitiveness and clearness. 

Private means, however, are rarely adequate for exhaustive labors of this 
kind; and if they are undertaken, as I have done in this case, the private pub¬ 
lication will not suffice to do justice to the subject. The contents and the 
results of a considerable number of large-sized drawings had to be compressed 
into two small charts, which do not give the remotest idea of what was at 
hand, and was desirable to be brought before the public. 

12 


90 


But my aims will be attained, if I should succeed through the two 
sketches, which answer so little my own wishes, to indicate the present status 
of the geography of the Gulf Stream, and further, to show the purposes of 
the North Polar expeditions, and what is intended to be reached by them. 

The problem to be solved by a German North Polar expedition is not 
perhaps a cruise in the ice, or to the coasts of Greenland, or even to the North 
Pole; their purposes are absolutely scientific researches, in the first place, into 
the geography of the ocean, which will advance, among other subjects, also the 
knowledge of the phenomenon of the Gulf Stream. This includes observations 
of the currents, and of the. surface and deep-sea temperature, the examination 
of drift wood, floating singly, as well as of accumulations of it, the collection 
of specimens of sea-water for analysis, and much more, all of which should 
begin on the coast of the German Sea, because this very sea, which washes 
our home shores, I confess it with shame, is in these respects nearly as little 
known as the North Pole itself. In this sense I have always conceived 
and urged a German North Polar expedition, and when, five years ago, for 
the first time, sketching the outlines of a programme for such an expedi¬ 
tion, I placed the currents, and especially the Gulf Stream, directly at the 
head of it. 184 

Maury published his charts, which go to latitude 60° N., and are still so 
very valuable, at the expense of the Government of the United States; the 
Netherland Government has caused similar charts to be published, reaching to 
latitude 49° N.; British steamship companies, Danish war and merchant ves¬ 
sels, English and Swedish expeditions have extended these researches north¬ 
ward. Geiman science also has moved of late to further these labors, by 
sending into the field expeditions which were fitted out from the limited 
means at its command, and from public contributions; the results of the first 
German expedition, and of that of Dr. Bessels and Dr. Dorst, the latter 
exclusively due to the generous munificence of a Rosenthal, are an honorable 
achievement. 

I have labored for five long years incessantly, and have made sacrifices of 
all kinds to help extinguish the blot, that Germany should, in regard to scien¬ 
tific marine expeditions, remain any longer on a par with Turkey and Greece. 
I hope that the German Government now will lend its aid at least toward the 
thorough elaboration of all the material already collected and soon to be 


91 


expected, as has been done in North America, Great Britain, the Netherlands, 
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, &c. German science, poor as its allottment in 
the governmental budget is, will never rest until the whole of the great, 
unknown, and mysterious region on the northern extremity of our globe is 
explored. 

A. PETERMANN. 


Gotha, June 4, 1870. 


FIRST SUPPLEMENT TO DR. PETER MANN'S PAPER. 


THE TEMPERATURE OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN AND THE 

GULF STREAM. 

B Y 

Rear-Admiral C. Irminger. 

COPENHAGEN, FEBRUARY 1870. 

That the North Atlantic Ocean exercises a great influence on the cli¬ 
mate of the countries, the coasts of which it washes, is generally known. 

Nautical researches have proved that there is a current, or perhaps bet¬ 
ter, a drift in the North Atlantic Ocean toward the north, the source of which 
is pointed out, by observations of the temperature of the ocean, to be in 
southern and warmer regions. This drift, or this weak current, proceeds 
between Iceland and Norway up and into the Arctic Sea, while the waters 
which move wesward of it in a northern direction wash the southern and 
western coasts of Iceland, and continue their movement between Iceland and 
Greenland until they are met and checked by the “powerful Arctic Current,” 
coming down from the Arctic Sea. This latter pushes its way southward past 
the northwest coast of Iceland and across to the east coast of Greenland, 
then along this and around Cape Farewell into Davis’ Strait, and thence.along 
the coast of Labrador and past Newfoundland. 

If there was not the above-mentioned current toward the north in the 
North Atlantic, the so-called Greenland ice from the sea around Spitzber- 
gen would drift, especially in prevailing northerly gales, to far more southern 
latitudes than is the case actually. This ice then would frecpiently drift to the 
west coast of Norway, to the Faroe and the Shetland Islands, &c.; and the 
ice which now drifts down between Iceland and Greenland, and along the 
east coast of Greenland, would fill the large bays of the west coasts of Ice¬ 
land, and then find its way southward into the Atlantic; all of which does 
not take place. 

It is this current toward the north which gives to Iceland, England, and 
Scotland the mild winter climate, is the source of the relatively mild winter 
on the Faroe Islands, and causes the harbors on the west coast of Norway, 



93 


even beyond the North Cape, to be open for navigation throughout the entire 
winter; it is this current to the north which, washing the southern and 
western coasts of Iceland, tempers their climate so that the fishermen 
may throw out their nets during the entire winter in the open sea, and that 
ships may enter and leave Havne Fiord, in Faxe Bay, even in the strongest 
winter, as the sea is always open there. This drift from southern, warmer 
regions endows the North Atlantic with its high surface temperature, and it 
is striking how nearly the temperature of the surface of the sea agrees every¬ 
where with that of the air; in weather fair in some degree, especially with a 
covered sky, there is indeed but very little difference in their temperature. 

Besides the observations of the currents and the high temperature of the 
surface of the sea, we know a number of other facts which also prove that 
these great bodies of warm water come from a more southern climate. Tropi¬ 
cal products, for instance, are frequently thrown on the coasts of Scotland, 
Norway, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and other parts of the high north. 
Of these, I but name the great bean of the “ Mimosa scandens ,” which is 
found there so frequently that everybody on this coast knows it. I myself 
found some near Husavik on the north coast of Iceland. 

I am able to add other striking proofs of the extent of the current into 
the Arctic. I possess a fishing buoy of a common kind, as used at the 
Lofodes and on the coast of Norway, which was found in 1861 on the Seven 
Islands, northeast of Spitzbergen, where more of them were lying within a 
short distance on the shore. Again, not long ago I received from Lieutenant 
Falbe, of the Danish navy, who then was employed surveying in Greenland, 
a hollow globe of very thick green glass, of the form and size of a pretty large 
water-melon, which that officer had found on the shore at Julianeliaab, in 
Greenland, between pieces of the so-called Greenland ice, which comes there 
from the sea around Spitzbergen. At first we could not make out this globe, 
but after various inquiries I learned that such globes have been used for some 
years by the fishermen of the Shetlands, and at places on the Norwegian coast, 
to support the nets in the water, in place of the common buoys, on account of 
their greater buoyancy. The globe in question had doubtless parted from a 
net and been driven by currents and winds into the Arctic, where it had 
frozen into the drift-ice, which then had drifted between Iceland and Green¬ 
land, along the east coast of Greenland, around Cape Farewell, and to 
Julianehaab, where the globe was found. 


94 


Subsequently another such globe was sent me by Overseer Muller, in 
Thorshavn, on the Faroes, who stated that of late they drift now and then 
upon these islands. Ast he current between the Faroe and Shetland Islands 
is generally running in a northeast direction, and the prevailing winds in this 
part of the Atlantic Ocean blow from the southwest and west, it might 
appear strange that these globes should drift to the Faroe Islands, but as the 
latter are so near to the Shetlands, and as these globes are so very buoyant, 
and* consequently much exposed to the wind, it is readily conceivable how 
they can drift, with strong easterly winds, the short distance from the fishing 
grounds at the Shetlands to the Faroes, particularly as the direction of the 
currents in the North Atlantic Ocean is subject to considerable changes with 
strong winds from various quarters. It frequently happens in gales from the 
north and northeast, that vessels are set to the southward; I myself have been 
driven, under such circumstances, in twenty-four hours, more than twenty 
miles southward, where the current generally is to the northeast. 

Speaking of these glass globes, I am reminded of the so-called “bottle 
experiments/’ resorted to so frequently under the impfession that the direc¬ 
tion of currents may be ascertained by them; but in many cases these experi¬ 
ments result in but very unreliable arguments for the direction, because the 
bottles used for the purpose are generally so light that they are propelled as 
much by the wind as by the current. If there are bottles to be used for 
ascertaining the direction of currents, they must, in order to escape the 
influence of the wind, be made expressly so thick and heavy that but little of 
the bottle can remain above the surface of the sea. 

I have been for some time in possession of observations of the tempera¬ 
ture of the surface of the sea, made in various parts of the Atlantic Ocean, 
partly by myself, and partly by naval officers and masters of merchant ves¬ 
sels who take interest in such researches, and to whom I had furnished relia¬ 
ble thermometers. The temperature of water and air was recorded daily in 
the log-books, generally each fourth hour. At the close of the cruise these 
journals were sent me to enable me to ascertain the exact places of the obser¬ 
vations from the position of the ship recorded each noon. 

These observations did show for the route between Fairhill and Cape 
Farewell, on a line directly across the entire North Atlantic, that the tem- 
peratuie of the suiface of the sea is, in the same season, much the same from 
Fairhill (latitude 59° 28' N., longitude 1° 55' W. of Greenwich) to about Ion- 


95 


gitude 30° W. of Greenwich, and sometimes even more west, the greatest 
difference being 4°.5 to 7°. Farther west the temperature decreases the more 
rapidly the nearer Greenland is approached, or the Arctic Current running 
along its coast, where the temperature of the surface of the sea sinks, in the 
vicinity of ice, or within the ice, frequently even below the freezing point. 

This part of the Atlantic Ocean being but little frequented during the 
winter months, I could not obtain observations for January and February, 
and was but lately fortunate enough to get observations for December by 
Lieutenant Norman, who happened to be blocked up with the brig Elna in 
Frederickshaab, until the middle of November 1868, by the vast masses of 
ice which beleaguered the coast of Greenland during that winter, and 
through which he had to break finally. 

The fall in the temperature of the surface of the sea from Fairliill to 
longitude 30°, or 40° W. of Greenwich, is by no means gradual; on the con¬ 
trary there are bands where the water is of a higher, close to one where it is 
of lower temperature; and such bands are found on each passage across the 
Atlantic between Fairhill and Greenland. 

The accompanying table will show the observations of the temperature 
of the sea between Fairhill and the meridians named. I have not embraced 
in it more than seven passages, as these, made at various seasons, will suffice 
to give an idea of the temperature of the North Atlantic Ocean in this region, 
where the currents from the southern zone exert their beneficial influence. 

To inquire into the relations of the temperature of one and the same 
season in various years, I have compared a passage in May 1844, and one 
from September to October 1846, with two made in about the same season 
of other years, in May 1868, and October 1867. 

Taking into consideration the difference in the dates and the positions, 
although they are but slight, as also the higher temperature of the surface of 
{he sea in the warmer season, it will be seen that the mean temperatures 
agree pretty well. The passage in May 1844 was somewhat earlier than 
that in May 1868; they differ in mean temperature 1°.2; the passage in 
September and October 1846 was earlier than that in October 1867, and dif¬ 
fers from the latter 0°.85. If these passages in the various years had corre¬ 
sponded in their dates, the mean temperatures would doubtless agree still 
better. 

Although the passages recorded in the table were made, some in the 


96 


warm and others in the cold season, the fluctuation of the mean temperature 
between Fairhill and that western meridian up to which the surface of the 
sea does not show, in the same season, greater‘changes in the temperature 
than from 4°.5 to 7°, is about the same for all passages together, viz., 5°.8; 
the mean temperature of March as the minimum being 45°.7, and that of 
July as the maximum 51°.6. The difference between the highest and the 
lowest temperature of the sea observe.d on this line of the Atlantic Ocean is 
10°.8, as there were observed at Fairhill on the 15th of March 43°.7, and in 
latitude 59§° N., longitude 4° W. of Greenwich, on the 8th of July, 54°.5. 
To the west of the meridians named the temperature fell more rapidly T the 
more so the nearer to Greenland. 

As already stated, I have no observations for January and February, but 
the temperature of these months will probably not differ much from that in 
December and March, because the mean temperature of the sea at Thorshavn 
for the months of December, January, February, and March differs, according 
to the daily observations at the Faroe Islands in 1846 and 1847, but 2°.9, 185 
and probably the temperature is more constant in the open sea than on shore 
at Thorshavn, which is closed in by land. 

The slight change, however, in the temperature of the surface of the sea 
which is found on this line, cannot be exemplified in the same manner as 
regards the limits of streamlets or bands of warm water which furrow the 
Atlantic there. 

The table shows that the temperature of the warmest bands is defined 
frequently pretty sharply against the waters which run through them. The 
table also shows where these warmer bands are found, and I have given, in a 
column of it, as accurately as possible their extent from east to west in nauti¬ 
cal miles. To be able to define the limits, I have selected only the warmest 
bands; it will easily be seen that had I allowed a wider range to the observed 
temperatures, these bands would have been accounted for as much broader, 
especially where they are not in some measure well defined. 

It is impracticable to establish in which longitudes these bands may be 
found, in the various seasons, because there is no regularity in their limits 
nor in their extent, as will be seen by comparing the passage in May 1844 
with that in May 1868, and that in September and October 1846 with that 
of October 1867. 18G 

The observations, however, show the fact that such bands are crossed on 


97 


each passage, and that generally two are found—one a little west of Fairhill, 
and the other far more westward in the broad ocean, sometimes even west of 
the meridian of Cape Reikianas, the southwesternmost point of Iceland, which 
lies in longitude 22° 50' W. of Greenwich. Both these bands possess about 
the same temperature. 

I have recorded in the table only seven passages, because the observa¬ 
tions of the other passages which were furnished me exhibit temperature 
relations similar to the above in about the same longitudes. 

The Gulf Stream has been, described so often, and is so generally known, 
that it needs not to be discussed here. I will only state that not only its 
limits are very changeable in the various seasons, but that also the width of 
its warm waters is subject to very great changes, as has been established by 
many researches. I will but add, as a proof, that the warm waters of the Gulf 
Stream between the Bermudas and Halifax had a width, in February 1820, 
of 140 miles, but in May of the same year of 300 nautical miles; in June 
1847 they were, in about the same place, 146 miles across; they were then 
again about as broad as in February, 1820. 187 

I will further recall to the mind that a branch of the Gulf Stream sets in 
a northeast direction toward the coasts of Europe, and that this very percepti¬ 
ble current traverses a great length of the ocean, maintaining a temperature of 
some degrees above the mean temperature of the ocean. 

That the Gulf Stream should expand over the entire North Atlantic 
Ocean, wherever the temperature of the surface is nearly uniform and rela¬ 
tively high, I deem less probable, as the warm water of the Gulf Stream is 
not found at considerable depths, 188 and its volume therefore cannot be as 
great as some may suppose. It is, besides, a fact that the warm water of the 
Gulf Stream is but little apt to mix with the adjoining sea-water. 

It must be borne in mind that the nearly uniform and relatively high 
temperature of the surface of the ocean, on the line from Fairhill in the direc¬ 
tion of Cape Farewell, extends between the meridians 30° and 40° W. of 
Greenwich. Fairhill lies nearly two degrees west of Greenwich. Even if 
these two degrees are subtracted from the degrees of longitude denoting the 
meridians where the high temperature is still found, it may be assumed that 
the nearly uniform and high temperature of the suiiace of the sea extends 
thirty degrees of longitude, or at least nine hundred nautical miles west of 
Fairhill. 

13 


98 


The higher temperature of the many thousand square.miles of the North 
Atlantic from about 40° north latitude, must be ascribed, as I take it, to the 
drift or current of the broad Atlantic Ocean, and, since a part of the Gulf 
Stream follows the movement of the ocean toward the north, it is extremely 
probable that only the highest tempered bands of water which were found on 
all the passages between Fairhill and Greenland, are branches of the Gulf 
Stream itself, which through the constantly following warm waters of the 
Gulf Stream maintain a higher temperature than that of the other parts of the 
ocean. 

That these warmer bands are found at one time more to the east, at 
another more to the west, has its cause, as I have ventured to express already 
some years ago, 189 in the Gulf Stream meeting the Arctic Current in the vicinity 
of the Newfoundland Banks, and their pressing against each other; when 
the Arctic Current is stronger than the Gulf Stream the latter turns more to 
the east, otherwise the Arctic Current gives way. Prevailing winds, particu¬ 
larly those athwart the currents, contribute doubtless to push these warmer 
bands more or less to the east or west. 

To convey an idea of the cooling of the sea in the progress of the body of 
water toward the north, I will give here the mean, for five years, of the obser¬ 
vations of the temperature of the surface of the sea, which were obtained on 
board of the steamships of the Cunard line from Liverpool to New York from 
longitude 10° W. of Greenwich to the Newfoundland Banks; 190 the track of 
these vessels lies ten or eleven degrees more to the southward than the line 
between Fairhill and Greenland: 


Temperature. 

On the New¬ 
foundland 

Banks. 

Longitude W. of Greenwich. 

Thermometer. 

40° 

35° 

30° 

25° 

20° 

15° 

10° 


o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o 


Temperature of the sur¬ 










face, mean of 5 years... 

39 

57.2 

56.3 

56.3 

56.1 

56.3 

55. 

54.3 

Fahrenheit. 


The temperature of the surface of the sea on the Newfoundland Banks, 
from a mean of five years, is lowest in January, 30°; and highest in Septem¬ 
ber, 52 o. On the other parts of the line it is warmest in August in 40° W. of 
Greenwich, 61°; and coldest in February in 10° W. of Greenwich, 50°. 

The warm bands may be traced much higher north; in regard to those 














99 


which continue their course between Iceland and Norway, I will state a few 
instances to prove that they are found even in the Arctic Sea. 

Bechey, in his well-known work on his voyage of northern discoveries, 191 
states that Parry, on his passage from Saro to Spitsbergen, found a continua¬ 
tion of the Gulf Stream in latitude 73° N., longitude 8° E. of Greenwich, 
“where the temperature, as with Captain Buchan, fell from 39° to 32 Q Fah¬ 
renheit, and continued at or below this degree during the remainder of the 
voyage.” 

Scoresby remarks : 192 

In some situations near Spitsbergen the warm water not only occupies tlie lower 
and mid regions of tlie sea, but also appears at the surface; in some instances, even 
among ice, the temperature of the sea at the surface has been as high as 36° or 38°, 
when that of the air has been several degrees below freezing. This circumstance, 
however, has chiefly occurred near the meridians of 6° to 12° E. of Greenwich, and we 
find, from observations, that the sea freezes less in those longitudes than in any other 
part of the Spitzbergen Sea. 

Again, when Captain Sodring was about to sail in 1860 with the steamer 
Fox from Copenhagen to the Arctic, on a sealing cruise, I begged him to 
observe the temperature of the surface of the sea. The following is an 
abstract of his journal: 


1860. 

Latitude 

north. 

Longitude from 
Greenwich. 

Tempera¬ 
ture of air. 

Temperature of 
surface of sea. 


o / 

o / 

o 

o 

PahrnorTT OR of T,indPfill 



36.5 

38 

February 29............................ 

58 32 

4 22 E. 

39 

39 

March 1 ................................ 

59 40 

3 40 E. 

37 

41 

March 3 .......................... 

61 56 

0 08 E. 

41 

45.5 

March 4 . 

63 37 

2 15 W. 

40 

40 

AT nrch h ... . .._. ...... - . 

64 40 

2 59 W. 

34 

38 

AT Q.rcli n _. . ___ ......_— — — 

65 15 

1 35 W. 

38 

39 

AT arch 7 _...................... 

66 21 

1 26 W. 

34 

41 

ATnrcli 8 .... 

68 31 

4 15 W. 

33 

34 


70 30 

7 47 W. 

32 

2®. 6 l in f-hoicc 




12 

28.6 1 







That there should be, so near the Arctic Circle, and after the influences 
of a long, cold winter, a belt where the water has a temperature of 41°, is 
again a proof of the existence there of a current from southern regions, and 
doubtless connected with the Gulf Stream. 





















100 


Between latitude 62° N., and the south coast of Iceland, from about lon¬ 
gitude 18° W. of Greenwich, toward Cape Reikianas, the current proceeds 
northwest. 193 

In regard to the warm bands which are found to the west of longitude 
18° W. of Greenwich, as shown in the table, it may be assumed with cer¬ 
tainty that they take their course between Iceland and Greenland, and wash 
the southern and western coast of Iceland. The temperature of the surface 
of the sea proves sufficiently the existence there of a warmer current. 

Should some one wish to become better acquainted with the temperature 
of the surface of the sea on the south and west coasts of Iceland, he is referred 
to the chart appended to my memoir on the currents and the ice around Ice¬ 
land. 194 I will state here, however, that 50°.9 were observed on August 31, 
east-southeast of Cape Reikianas; 51°.8 in August, 1859, a few miles north¬ 
west of Snef’elsjokul, in about latitude 65° N.; and 49°.l, in June, in nearly 
66° N latitude, northwest of Patricksfiord, in the vicinity of the Arctic Cur¬ 
rent, in which, only 30 nautical miles more to the north, but 32°.5 were found 
at the surface of the sea. 

As the chart just alluded to reaches only to longitude 30° W., I will add 
here yet a few observations, which were made by Captain Knudson in the 
brig of war Queen, in 1859, on a cruise from Iceland to our colonies in Green¬ 
land, and back to Iceland: 


Date. 

Position. 

Temperature. 

Latitude 

N. 

Longitude 

W. of 

Greenwich. 

At the 

surface. 

In various depths. 


O ! 

O J 

o 

o 

June 28, 1859. 

61 12 

33 00 

46.4 

200 fathoms.. .43.7 

June 29, 1859. 

60 27 

35 34 

45.0 

300 fathoms... 44.1 

June 30, 1859. . 

59 35 

38 09 

44.6 

300 fathoms. ..44. 4 

August 8, 1859. 

60 10 

36 21 

48.6 

300 fathoms... 45. 0 


On the 8th of August the ship was in about the same place as on June 29 ; 
it appears that the warmer water, in the mean time, had approached nearer to 
the coast of Greenland, perhaps also partly through the influence of the sun; 
it was scarce two hundred nautical miles distant from it. The temperature 
on August 8 agrees pretty well with that recorded in the appended table of 













101 


passages to Greenland, (that of 1869,) when the temperature at the surface on 
July 28, in latitude 56 N. and longitude 38° W. of Greenwich, (about three 
and one-half degrees more southward,) was found to be 50°. 

How far to the westward single bands of a relatively higher temperature 
are found sometimes, I can show by an instance in the year 1869. Captain 
Bang, when returning from Greenland in the brig Constance, had on May 6 
to beat against the wind between latitude 53 i° and 54° N., and longitude 
40° and 41° W. of Greenwich. From the Greenland coast, where no ice had 
been seen, to that place the temperature of the sea had risen regu¬ 
larly from 33°.6 to 41° and 42,° when it pretty suddenly rose to 45°.5. On 
account of this rise observations were made at shorter intervals; the ther¬ 
mometer kept as high; it even rose to 46°.5, at which temperature of the 
water sixteen nautical miles were made on a north-northwest course. The 
temperature of the air above this warmer band also rose from 41° to between 
43°.2 and 45°.5. A few miles to the eastward the temperature fell to 42°.6 
and 41°. 7 ; but in longitude 39|° W. of Greenwich the thermometer showed 
again 45°.5 as the temperature of the sea at the surface; it fell, however, 
soon to 44°.4 and 43°.2, and remained mostly between 41° and 43°.2 up to 
latitude 58° N., longitude 30^° W., where the temperature of the sea, as well 
as of the ajr, advanced again to 45°.5, and soon to 47°.7 and 48°.9. 

On all the seven passages recorded in the appended table, two warm 
bands have been observed, except in the passage of the brig Elna in Decem¬ 
ber 1868, which exhibited a third small band in about longitude 13° W. of 
Greenwich, and of the brig Constance in March 1869, for which I have only 
recorded the western band, as from Fairhill to about longitude 15f° W. 
the sea was found to be colder at the surface than the mean temperature of 
the entire passage, viz., 45°.7; between the meridians 7^° and 11 i° W. of 
Greenwich, however, the temperature was found to be 46° to 46°.6, but 
although this is higher than the mean, I deemed the difference not great 
enough to record this as a«warmer band. 

From the above discussion, it appears to me probable that the warmer 
bands in the North Atlantic Ocean are branches of the Gulf Stream. The 
western warm band is connected, doubtless, with that part of the Gulf Stream 
which approaches nearest to the Newfoundland Bank; while the eastern band 
corresponds to that part which, in Rennelfs opinion, proceeds toward Europe, 


102 


from whence it turns still more to the northward, and so shapes the course 
of the eastern band more easterly and nearer to Fairhill. 

The mild winter climate, so prevalent on the western coasts of Europe, 
cannot, however, in my opinion, be ascribed, solely to the Gulf Stream, but is 
due principally to the great and broad Atlantic Ocean, above which there is 
in the colder seasons a relatively high temperature, which by the prevailing 
western and southwestern winds is carried to the coasts of Europe. 


Temperature on the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean between the Orkney Islands and Cape Farewell , 5G° to 00° N. latitude. 


103 


•aonai0jgip jS0jx?9J£) 


4.5 

3.8 

4.5 

3.5 

5.2 

5.6 

4.0 

owest temperature. 

Date. 


May 21 

Sept. 27 

May 26 

Oct. 9 

Mar. 15 

July 10 

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SECOND SUPPLEMENT TO DR. PE TER MANN’S PAPER. 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 

DURING 

A WINTER STAY ON BEAR ISLAND, 

FROM AUGUST 6, 1865, TO JUNE 19, 1866. 

By Sievert Tobiesen, Shipmaster. 

Communicated by Professor A. E. Nordenskiold, October 13, 1869. 196 

Bear Island is but small, and lies between about 74° 20' and 74° 40' N. 
latitude, and 18° 00' to 19° 17' longitude E. of Greenwich, isolated in the 
Polar Sea in a region bounded on one side by a weak branch of the Gulf 
Stream, and on the other side by a Polar Stream coming down from the 
northeast. Nearly the entire island is a flat plateau, at an elevation of about 
fifty to one hundred feet, from the southern and eastern parts of which two 
mountains rise to a height of from one thousand to one thousand two hundred* 
feet; they are free from snow during the later part of the summer, but nearly 
always covered by clouds. The lower part of the island is covered with 
extensive heaps of stone, a product of the influence of the frost upon the sand¬ 
stone rock beneath; there are bald fields of stones, hardly showing any vege¬ 
tation, and innumerable shallow accumulations of sweet water which do not 
freeze to the bottom even in mid-winter. The plateau is so very steep toward 
the ocean that it is only possible in few places to climb the shore, which con¬ 
sists in general of wildly serrated rocks only accessible to birds. 

At two points, the North and the South Harbor, the shore forms insig¬ 
nificant round deltas, which but a few decades ago were convenient resting 
places of the large walrus herds then rambling over the island from time to 
time. To hunt them Bear Island was visited often enough; there have been 
at times even small winter colonies, and the remains of a small winter hut may 
still be seen. 

The walrus, and in its wake the hunter, however, retired soon to more 
northern and less accessible regions; but the tales of the hundreds of animals 
which frequently enough were slaughtered in a single day, and the bleaching 



105 


skeletons of which cover now the sands of North Harbor, are still told and 
have caused the winter expedition, the observations of which we annex below. 

This expedition was fitted out by the Norwegian shipmaster Sievert Tobie- 
sen, at his own expense, to hunt walrus on the island during the fall and winter 
months. For this purpose he erected on the northern point of it, near the former 
walrus resorts, a neat and, when compared with the so-called Russian huts of 
Spitsbergen, commodious house of wood, which he had brought from Norway, 
and remained there with six men during the winter of 1865—66. The 
results of hunting were very meager, by no means answering the expenses of 
the undertaking; only a single walrus and a few ice bears and foxes were 
killed; otherwise the stay was pleasant. All the participants of the expedi¬ 
tion returned to Norway in good health, without, as has generally been the 
case with similar winter expeditions, having suffered at all from the scurvy. 
This may be ascribed, in the main, to the good order and discipline which 
Tobiesen proved energetic enough to maintain among his men. 

He had brought out also a few, but unluckily incomplete, instruments, 
with which he carried on observations throughout his stay. Among them 
were: 

1. A thermometer of Reaumur’s scale, divided to whole degrees, which, 
at my request, was sent afterwards here to ascertain the corrections; 196 these 
were applied to the observations before entering them in the annexed table. 

2. An aneroid barometer, divided to English inches. But this barome¬ 
ter had not been properly corrected, or even compared with a mercurial baro¬ 
meter before leaving Norway; it also fell in disorder during the winter from 
causes not known; there is therefore no certainty that the observations by it 
should not have serious errors, for which reason I did not deem it proper to 
embrace them in the table. 

The hut, in which the expedition lived, lies, according to the determina¬ 
tion by Captain Yon Otter, in latitude 74° 38' 55" N., longitude 18° 48' E. of 
Greenwich, 197 elevated about thirty feet above the surface of the sea, a few 
hundred paces from the shore of the walrus fiord. 198 The island is there per¬ 
fectly level, with but a very slight rise toward the interior, and the distances 
to Mount Misery and Bird Mountain are quite considerable; the house, there¬ 
fore, was not protected in any direction from the wind. 

The following in regard to the ice is from Tobiesen’s diary: 

To the end of October it was possible to row in a boat to the southern 
14 


106 


part of the island. On the 2d of November a quantity of drift ice arrived 
from the northwest, north, and northeast, but drifted away again to the west 
in the night of the 4th. On the 6th no ice was to be seen, and on the 
7th it rained. There were still seen eider-geese, alkes, and petrel on the 
12th. On the 14th loose, porous ice drifted to the land, but parted again 
on the 16th. On the 19th ice again made its appearance, but birds were 
still seen. On the 22d and 23d porous ice came again, which on the 24th 
surrounded the island, so that no open water could be seen from the land, 
On the 2f?th the men could walk on the ice close to the shore, but at noon 
it parted in the middle and disappeared entirely during the day. On the 27th 
the ice came again close in, so that no open water could be seen. On the 
30th it again went off; none was to be seen from the west coast; large flocks 
of petrel moved outside over the ice. 

On the 1st of December ice set again toward the land; on the 4th it 
moved olf, but returned on the 5th, covering the water all over; it moved off 
on the 7th and returned on the 10th. In the night of the 13th it bridged the 
water close to the land strong enough to support men, but disappeared again 
from time to time, so that the sea was now free and now covered again. On 
the 31st of December the sea was entirely free. 

On the 5th and 6th of January snow fell so considerably that the sea 
become covered by a snow pap, which soon froze. The island now looked 
like a snow hill rising from a great snow plain; but the ice parted from time 
to time from the land, leaving the water next to the coast free to a width of a 
couple of rifle-ball ranges. 

On the 23d two large flocks of birds were seen to fly over the ice from 
east to west; on the 24th an aurora borealis was observed. 

On the 3d of February the ice broke, but froze again on the 5th. On 
the 10th the sea was again free, with the exception of a few isolated fields. 
On the 11th eider-geese were seen swimming on the water. On the 18th 
loons were seen. On the 24th the sea froze again as far as the eye could 
reach. 

On the 2d of March the ice broke, disappeared at times, and came again. 
On the 30th it was in pieces, as far from the shore as could be seen; it closed, 
however, soon again. On the 18th of April the entire sea was covered by ice. 
On the 23d none was to be seen toward the north, but it returned on the 
same day with a westerly wind. 


107 


On the 6th and 7th of May much of the ice drifted away, but new came 
in its place with an easterly wind. In the first week of June the land began 
to be free of ice and snow, but the sea was covered in all directions with drift 
ice, which, however, became less by degrees; on June 17th, the day of depart¬ 
ure, great masses still drifted past the island. 


Meteorological observations at Bear Island. 


Date. 

8 a. m. 

2 p. m. 

8 p. m. 

Daily 

mean 

temp. 

Sky, 

Temp. 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

1865. 

o 


o 


o 


o 


Aug. 6 

40 

W. 

45 

W. 

40 

W. S. W. 

41.6 

Fog and thick fog. 

7 

45 

W. S. W. 

42 

N. W. 

40 

W. 

42.6 

Fog. 

8 

42 

S. W. 

42 

s. w. 

42 


42.4 

Fog and foggy. 

9 

42 

S. 

40 

N. 

38 

N. E. 

40.1 

Fog. 

10 

33 

N. E. 

33 

N. E. 

31 

N. E. 

32.5 

Fog. 

11 

42 

N. E. 

40 

N. 

40 

Calm. 

41.0 

Foggy. 

12 

42 

S. E. 

42 

S. 

40 

S. 

41.7 

Foggy and clear. 

13 

38 

Calm. 

40 

Calm. 

38 

Calm. 

38.8 

Foggy. 

14 

42 

Calm. 

42 

Calm. 

40 

Calm. 

41.7 

Clear, foggy, clear. 

15 

34 

Calm. 

35 

Calm. 

33 

N. N. E. 

34.3 

Clear, fog, clear. 

16 

42 

N. 

38 

N. 

38 

N. N. W. 

39.4 

Clear. 

17 

38 

N.N.W. 

35 

N. 

35 

W. 

36.3 

Clear, fog. 

18 

40 

W. 

38 

W. 

38 

W. 

38.8 

Fog, clear. 

19 

38 

s. s. w. 

40 

s. 

38 

s. 

38.8 


20 

38 

W. N. W. 

38 

N. W. 

33 

N. N. W. 

36.3 

Covered, clear. 

21 

35 

N. W. 

38 

N. W. 

38 

N. W. 

37.2 

Covered, clear. 

22 

40 

W. 

40 

W. 

38 

W. N. W. 

39.4 

Foggy. 

23 

38 

; W.N.W. 

40 

w. 

38 

S. E. 

38.8 

Fog. 

24 

33 

N. 

32 

N. 

32 

N. 

32.7 

Covered, clear. 

25 

33 

N. 

35 

N. E. 

35 

N. N. E. 

34.7 

Clear. 

26 

35 

E. 

33 

N. E. 

31 | 

Calm. 

33.1 

Clear, covered. 

27 

33 

N. N. E. 

33 

N. N. E. 

33 

Calm. 

33.1 


28 

31 

N. 

33 

N. 

33 

N. 

32.4 

Covered. 

29 

35 

N.W. 

38 

N.N.W. 

33 

Calm. 

35.4 

Foggy, clear. 

30 

33 

N. N. E. 

33 

N. N. E. 

31 

N. N. E. 

32.4 

Foggy, clear. 

31 

31 ! 

N. 

31 

N. 

31 

N. 

30.9 

Clear. 

Monthly 

mean 






37.2 


Sept. 1 

26 

N. 

30 

N. 

28 

N. 

28.0 

Snow drifts. 

2 

28 

N. 

28 

N. 

28 

N. 

28.2 

Snow drifts and fog. 

3 

31 

N. 

31 

N. 

31 

N. 

30.9 

Covered, clear. 

4 

33 

S. S. E. 

40 

S. 

34 

s. s. w. 

35.8 

Snow, covered, fog. 

5 

39 

Calm. 

34 

S. E. 

33 

N. E. 

35.6 

Covered, rain. 

6 

33 

N. N. W. 

35 

S. W. 

33 

W.N. W. 

33.8 

Fog, clear. 















































108 


Meteorological observations at Bear Island^ Continued. 


Date. 

8 a. m. 

2 p. m. 

1 

8 p. m. 

Daily 

mean 

temp. 

Sky. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

1865. 

o 


o 


o 


o 


Sept. 7 

31 

N. N. W. 

33 

S. W. 

33 

N. N. W. 

32.5 

Fog. 

8 

32 

N. N. W. 

33 

N. N. W. 

33 

N. N. W. 

32.7 

Clear. 

9 

31 

N. ‘ 

29 

N. 

29 

N. N. E. 

3d. 0 

Clear. 

10 

32 

N. E. 

38 

S. E. 

35 

S. 

35.2 

Snow, fog, and rain. 

11 

38 

s. s. w. 

41 

s. s. w. 

35 

Calm. 

38.1 

Covered. 

12 

33 

N. W. 

34 

W. N. W. 

33 

N. W. 

33.6 

Clear, covered. 

13 

35 

S. 

40 

S. E. 

34 

S. S. E, 

36.7 

Covered, fog, rain. 

14 

35 

E. 

33 

N. E. 

33 

N. 

33.8 

Rain, fog. 

15 

33 

W. N. W. 

33 

N. N. W. 

33 

W. 

33.1 

Covered, snow, cov’d. 

16 

31 

W. N. W. 

33 

N. E. 

31 

E. 

31.6 

Covered, clear. 

17 

35 

E. S. E. 

40 

S. 

38 

S. 

37.8 

Snow, tlxick fog. 

18 

45 

S. 

40 

S. 

35 

s. 

40.1 

Covered, rain, covered. 

19 

38 

s. w. 

38 

s. w. 

33 

s. w. 

36.3 

Fog, covered. 

20 

34 

N. W. 

. 

W. N. W. 

32 

Calm. 

32.7 

Snow drifts, foggy. 

21 

38 

s. 

43 

s. 

42 

S. 

41.2 

Rain. 

22 

•38 

s. 

40 

s. w. 

40 

s. w. 

39.4 

Fog. 

23 

40 

s. s. w. 

40 

s. s. w. 

38 

s, w. 

39.4 

Covered, foggy. 

24 

34 

w. 

33 

w. s. w. 

31 

N. W. 

32.9 

Fog, snow. 

25 

33 

N. W. 

33 

N. W. 

32 


32.7 

Covered, fog, snow 









drifts. 

26 

31 

W. N. W. 

32 

N. N. W. 

30 

N. W. 

30.8 

Covered. 

27 

28 

Calm. 

31 

N. N. E. 

30 

N. N. W. 

29.5 

Covered. 

28 

30 

N. W. 

31 

N. N. W. 

31 

N. W. 

30.4 

Covered. 

29 

31 

S. E. 

32 

E. S. E. 

31 

E. S. E. 

31.3 

Fog. 

30 

28 

N. 

27 

N. 

27 

N. W. 

27.3 

Snow drift, fog. 

Montlily 

mean 






33 ft 


| Oct. 1 

28 

Calm. 

31 

w. s. w. 

30 

W. S. W. 

Od, O 

29.5 

Covered, fog. 

2 

33 

W. S. W. 

35 

s. s. w. 

35 

s. s. w. 

34.7 

Snow, rain. 

3 

33 

W. 

31 

N. N. W. 

31 

N. N. W. 

31.6 

Rain, snow. 

4 

31 

S. E. 

31 

N. W. 

30 

w. 

30.4 

Snow, covered. 

5 

30 

N. N. E. 

30 

N. W. 

28 

N.E. 

29.1 

Snow, clear. 

6 

30 

E. 

26 

E. 

23 

E. 

26.1 

Clear. 

7 

28 

N. E. 

30 

N. E. 

30 

N. E. 

29.1 

Fog. 

8 

23 

S. 

30 

w. s. w. 

31 

S. W. 

28.0 

Foggy, snow. 

9 

32 

s. w. 

28 

N. W. 

27 

N. W. 

29.1 

Covered. 

10 

31 

N. 

28 

N. E. 

27 

N. E. 

28.6 

Snow, covered. 

11 

23 

N. E. 

21 

S. E. 

22 

S. E. 

21.9 

Covered, fog. 

12 

23 

E. 

22 

E. 

22 

N. N. E. 

22.3 

Snow. 

13 

24 

N. E. 

27 

N. E. 

28 

E. N. E. 

26.4 

Covered. 

14 

28 

E. 

30 

N. E. 

30 

E. 

29.1 

Covered, snow. 

15 

30 

E. 

30 

* E. 

28 

E. 

29.1 

Snow, fog. 








































109 


Meteorological observations at Bear Island —Continued. 



8 a. in. 

2 

p. m. 

8 

p. m. 

Daily 

mean 

temp. 

Sky. 

JJdtC* 

[emp. 

Wind. 

remp. 

Wind. 

remp. 

Wind. 

1865. 

o 


o 


o 


o 


Oct. 16 

28 

N.E. 

28 

N. E. 

27 

E. N. E. 

27.7 

Snow, fog, aurora 

• 








borealis. 

17 

28 

N. E. 

27 

N. E. 

28 

N. E. 

27.7 

Fog, little aurora 









borealis. 

18 

28 

N. E. 

28 

N. 

28 

E. 

28.2 

Foggy, covered. 

19 

28 

N. E. 

21 

E. 

19 

E. 

22.3 

Clear, aurora. 

20 

21 

N. E. 

19 

E. S. E. 

24 

E. 

21.2 

Clear, weak aurora. 

21 

28 

N. E. 

28 

E. 

30 

E. 

28.6 

Covered, weak aurora. 

22 

30 

N. E. 

30 

N. E. 

30 

N. E. 

29.5 

Covered, fog. 

23 

24 

N. N. E. 

23 

N. N. E. 

22 

N. 

23.2 

Fog. 

24 

21 

N. N. W. 

22 

N. N. W. 

19 

E. 

20.3 

Covered, aurora. 

25 

17 

S. E. . 

19 

S. E. 

21 

S. E. 

18.5 

Clear. 

26 

21 

N. E. 

23 

E. 

27 

N. E. 

23.6 

Snow, fog. 

27 

31 

N. N. E, 

31 

N. N. E. 

31 

N. E. 

30.8 

Fog. 

28 

30 

E. N. E. 

30 

E. N. E. 

31 

N. E. 

30.0 

Fog. 

29 

31 

N. 

31 

N. E. 

31 

N. E. 

30.8 

Fog, covered. 

30 

31 

E. N. E. 

31 

E. N. E. 

28 

E. N. E. 

30.0 

Snow and fog. 

31 

24 

N. N. E. 

24 

N. N. E. 

23 

N. N. E. 

24.1 

Fog. 

Monthly 

mean 






27.1 


Nov. 1 

24 

N. N. W. 

24 

N. N. W. 

26 

N. N. W. 

24.8 

Covered, fog. 

2 

23 

N. N. W. 

22 

N. 

23 

N. 

22.7 

Covered, fog. 

3 

27 

N. E. 

30 

N. E. 

31 

E. N. E. 

29.1 

Foggy. 

4 

31 

S. E. 

28 

S. E. 

28 

E. S. E. 

29.1 

Covered, clear, cov’d. 

5 

21 

S. E. 

26 

S. E. 

30 

W. S. W. 

25.5 

Clear, covered, fog. 

6 

28 

S. W. 

27 

S. 

27 

S. S. W. 

27.7 

Snow, covered, fog. 

7 

35 

S. S. W. 

34 

s. s. w. 

26 

N. W. 

31.7 

Rain, fog. 

8 

27 

S. W. 

33 

s. w. 

33 

S. W. 

31.1 

Fog. 

9 

31 

W. S. W. 

31 

s. w. 

28 

W. N. W. 

30.0 

Snow and fog. 

10 

22 

w. 

21 

w. 

20 

W. 

20.7 

Snow. 

11 

17 

s. w. 

21 

s. w. 

23 

W. 

20.1 

Covered. 

12 

23 

N. 

23 

N. 

21 

W. N. W. 

22.3 

Covered, weak aurora. 

13 

19 

W. N. W. 

19 

N. W. 

17 

N. N. W. 

17.8 

Snow, clear. 

14 

14 

N. N. W. 

17 

N. N. W. 

17 

N. 

15.8 

Covered. 

15 

19 

S. 

“24 

s. 

31 

s. s. w. 

24.6 

Fog, snow, rain. 

16 

31 

w. s. w. 

32 

w. s. w. 

31 

s. w. 

31.3 

’ Covered. 

17 

33 

s. w. 

33 

w. s. w. 

22 

N. W. 

29.3 

Rain. 

18 

17 

E.N. E. 

17 

E. N. E. 

23 

E. N. E. 

19.4 

Snow. 

19 

30 

S. E. 

35 

s. s. w. 

35 

s. s. w. 

33.3 

Snow, rain. 

20 

33 

W. S. W. 

30 

N. 

23 

N. N. W. 

28.6 

Covered, snow. 

21 

19 

W. N. W. 

17 

N. N. W. 

11 

N. W. 

15.1 

Covered, snow, cov’d. 

22 

14 

N. 

18 

S. 

18 

W. 

.. 

16.2 

Fog, covered, aurora. 



















































110 


Meteorological observations at Bear Island —Continued. 


Date. 

8 a. m. 


2 p. m. 

8 p. m. 

Daily 

Sky. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

IllCcUl 

temp. 

1865. 
Nov. 23 

o 

8 

N. 

o 

7 

N. 

o 

7 

N. 

o 

7.7 

Covered. 

24 

1 

E. N. E. 

1* 

N. E. 

3 

. N. E. 

1.6 

Fog, covered. 

25 

3 

N. E. 

5 

N. E. 

7 

N. E. 

4.8 

Covered, fog. 

26 

15 

N. E. 

20 

S. E. 

23 

S. E. 

20.1 

Covered, fog, 

27 

27 

E. 

27 

E. 

27 

N. E. 

27.1 

Snow. 

28 

24 

N. N. E. 

23 

N. N. E. 

23 

N. E. 

23.5 

Snow, fog. 

29 

21 

N. 

21 

E. 

19 

N. E. 

19.9 

Covered, snow. 

30 

20 

s. s. w. 

22 

W. 

21 

E. 

20.0 

Snow, covered. 

Monthly 

Dec. 1 

mean 

19 

E. S. E. 

24 

W. 

10 

N. W. 

22.3 

17.4 

Snow, covered. 

. 2 

8 

N. W. 

10 

N. E. 

6 

N. E. 

+ 7.9 

Snow. 

3 

— 3 

N. E. 

— 4 

N. 

— 2 

N. N. E. 

— 3.6 

Covered. 

4 

— 2 

S. S. E. 

14 

s. s. w. 

19 

S. W. 

+10.2 

Snow, fog. 

5 

27 

s. w. 

26 

N. W. 

17 

N. W. 

23.2 

Fog, clear. 

6 

23 

w. s. w. 

26 

s. w. 

26 

W. 

24.8 

Covered, fog. 

7 

28 

s. w. 

33 

w. 

31 

s. 

30.6 

Covered, fog. 

8 

34 

s. 

33 

s. w. 

28 

N. W. 

32.0 

Fog, rain. 

9 

31 

s. w. 

30 

s. w. 

30 

E. N. E. 

30.0 

Fog, snow. 

10 

28 

s. 

20 

N.W. 

14 

N. W. 

20.8 

Fog, snow, covered. 

11 

17 

N. N. W. 

11 

E. S. E. 

14 

S. E. 

13.8 

Snow. 

12 

32 

w. s. w. 

28 

W. S. W. 

21 

N. W. 

27.0 

Snow, covered. 

13 

5 

N. N. W. 

3 

‘ N. N. W. 

— 4 

N. 

+ 1.4 

Covered, weak aurora 

14 

—12 

N. N. E. 

—13 

N. N. E. 

— 3 

S. 

— 9.0 

borealis. 

Clear. 

15 

— 6 

N. E. 

—11 

N. N. E. 

—16 

N. E. 

—10.5 

Covered, clear, snow. 

16 

—16 

N. 

— 6 

N. W. 

— 2 

N. N. W. 

— 8.1 

Snow, covered. 

17 

3 

N. W. 

— 5 

Calm. 

— 5 

S. 

— 2.2 

Clear. 

18 

— 6 

E. 

— 7 

E. N. E. 

5 

S. E. 

— 2.6 

Clear, snow. 

19 

23 

S. W. 

23 

W. S. W. 

18 

N. W. 

+21.4 

Snow, clear. 

20 

7 

E. 

11 

E. 

17 

S. E. 

11.5 

Covered, snow. 

21 

15 

N. 

15 

N. W. 

12 

N. W. 

14.2 

Covered, snow, clear, 

22 

10 

N. E. 

5 

N. E. 

0 

E. 

4.8 

aurora borealis. 

Snow. 

23 

3 

E. 

19 

E. S. E. 

28 

S. E. 

16.5 

Snow. 

24 

33 

W. 

31 

W. S. W. 

30 

W. 

31.3 

Rain, fog. 

25 

35 

S. 

34 

W. S. W. 

33 

s. w. 

34.3 

Rain, fog. 

26 

35 

s. s. w. 

33 

S. W. 

31 

W. N. W. 

33.1 

Rain, snow. 

27 

21 

W. N. W. 

20 

N. W. 

20 

W. 

19.8 

Snow. 

28 

33 

w. s. w. 

34 

W. 

33 

W. 

33.6 

Rain, fog, covered. 

29 

35 

s. 

35 

s. w. 

31 

W. 

33.8 

Rain, covered, clear. 



























Ill 


Meteorological observations at Bear Island —Continued. 



8 

a. m. 

2 

p. m. . 

8 

p. m. 

Daily 









mean 

Sky. 









remp. 

Wind. 

remp. 

Wind. 

remp. 

Wind. 

temp. 


1865. 

o 


o 


o 


o 


Dec. 30 

30 

S. S. E. 

30 

S. E. 

31 

E. S. E. 

30.0 

Covered,clear, cover’d. 

31 

33 

S. S. E. 

33 

s. s. w. 

33 

S. S. W. 

33.1 

Covered. 

Monthly 

mean 






16.7 








1866. 
Jan. 1 

31 

E. 

31 

S. E. 

23 

S. E. 

28.4 

Fog, snow, clear. 

2 

33 

S. S. E. 

31 

s. s. w. 

31 

S. S. E. 

31.6 

Covered, foggy, cov’d. 

3 

30 

S. 

23 

s. w. 

22 

S. S. E. 

24.8 

Fog. 

4 

21 

E. S. E. 

17 

E. 

17 

E. 

17.8 

Snow. 

5 

17 

E. N. E. 

10 

E. N. E. 

5 

E. N. E. 

10.2 

Snow, covered. 

6 

4 

E. N. E. 

7 

E. 

12 

E. 

7.7 

Snow. 

7 

11 

E. N. E. 

0 

N. E. 

— 4 

N. E. 

+ 2.3 

Snow, fog. 

8 

—18 

N. E. 

—19 

N. E. 

—18 

E. 

—18.4 

Clear, aurora. 

9 

—12 

E. N. E. 

—16 

S. 

—10 

S. 

—12.1 

Clear, aurora. 

10 

0 

S. S. E. 

5 

N. E. 

— 2 

N. E. 

+ 0.7 

Clear, covered, clear, 









aurora. 

11 

0 

N. 

0 

N. E. 

— 4 

N. E. 

— 1.0 

Snow, clear, aurora. 

12 

— 5 

E. 

3 

E. N. E. 

5 

Calm. 

+ 1.0 

Covered, snow. 

13 

10 

S. E. 

14 

S. E. 

7 

N. N. E. 

10.4 

Covered, snow. 

14 

— 2 

E. S. E. 

7 

E. S. E. 

3 

E. 

+ 2.3 

Covered, snow, clear, 









aurora. 

15 

— 5 

E. N. E. 

— 6 

E. N. E. 

_ 2 

E. 

— 4.2 

Covered, clear, aurora. 

16 

— 1 

E. S. E. 

— 1 

E. 

5 

E. 

+ 1.0 

Clear, covered, snow. 

17 

12 

E. 

12 

E. 

— 4 

S. E. 

6.8 

Snow, covered, clear, 









aurora. 

18 

5 

E. 

5 

N. E. 

12 

E. N. E. 

7.2 

Snow, fog. 

19 

4 

E. N. E. 

— 4 

N. E. ’ 

0 

N. E. 

0.0 

Covered, snow. 

20 

3 

N. E. 

3 

E. N. E. 

3 

E. N. E. 

2.5 

Snow, covered. 

21 

6 

N. E. 

6 

N. E. 

7 

N. 

6.1 

Fog, snow. 

22 

10 

E. N. E. 

10 

E. 

5 

N. E. 

7.9 

Snow, fog, clear. 

23 

6 

E. N. E. 

0 

E. 

3 

S. E. 

+ 2.7 

Covered. 

24 

— 2 

E. 

— 5 

E. 

0 

E. 

— 2.0 

Foggy, clear. 

25 

17 

E. S. E. 

28 

S. 

28 

E. 

+24.3 

Covered, snow. 

26 

24 

N. E. 

19 

N. E. 

17 

N. E. 

19.9 

Snow. 

27 

0 

N. E. 

1 

N. N. E. 

3 

N. N. E. 

+ 1.2 

Covered, snow. 

2S 

— 4 

E. 

—-6 

N. E. 

— 7 

E. N. F. 

— 5.4 

. Clear. 

29 

— 8 

E. N. E. 

— 5 

E. N. E. 

— 2 

E. 

— 4.8 

Fog, covered. 

30 

—10 

N. E. 

—10 

N. E. 

— 7 

N. E. 

— 8.3 

Clear. 

31 

— 8 

E. N. E. 

—10 

E. S. E. 

—10 

E. S. E. 

— 8.7 

Clear. 

"TV T /\n ■4-T'i "1 \7 

lYinnn 






+ 5.0 


Mommy 

ill cl 11 







Feb. 1 

12 

E. S. E. 

15 

S. 

18 

S. 

14.9 

Snow. 

2 

22 

E. 

28 

E. 

23 

E. N. E. 

24.3 

Snow. 
























































112 


Meteorological observations at Bear Island —Continued. 


Date. 

8 a. m. 

2 p. m. 

8 p. m. 

Daily 

mean 

Sky. 








Temp 

Wind. 

Temp 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

temp. 


1866. 

o 


o 


o 


.o 


Feb. 3 

24 

E. 

24 

E. 

26 

E. 

24.8 

Snow. 

4 

21 

E. 

21 

E. 

21 

E. 

20.8 

Snow, covered. 

5 

5 

E. 

— 1 

E. N. E. 

— 2 

E. N. E. 

+ 0.5 

Snow. 

6 

—10 

E. N. E. 

— 7 

E. N. E. 

14 

E. N. E. 

— 0.6 

Snow, hail. 

7 

7 

E. N. E. 

14 

E. 

20 

E. 

+13.6 

Snow, covered. 

8 

17 

E. 

19 

E. S. E. 

18 

E. 

17.6 

Covered, snow, cov’d. 

9 

17 

E. 

19 

E. 

19 

E. 

17.8 

Covered. 

10 

19 

E. S. E. 

21 

S. E. 

21 

S. E. 

19.9 

Covered. 

11 

21 

E. S. E. 

21 

E. S. E. 

21 

E. S. E. 

20.8 

Snow, covered. 

12 

21 

E. S. E. 

19 

S. E. 

20 

E. S. E. 

19.6 

Snow, covered. 

13 

19 

S. E. 

21 

E. 

21 

E. S. E. 

19T8 

Snow, covered. 

14 

23 

S. E. 

24 

S. E. 

27 

S. E. 

24.8 

Covered. 

15 

30 

S. 

30 

S. 

28 

S. S. W. 

29.1 

Snow. 

16 

28 

E. S. E. 

26 

E. S. E. 

24 

E. S. E. 

26.1 

Covered, snow. 

17 

22 

E. N. E. 

26 

N. E. 

19 

N. N. E. 

22.1 

Covered, snow. 

18 

13 

S. E. 

22 

S. E. 

30 

S. 

21.4 

Clear, covered. 

19 

31 

S. 

31 

S. 

33 

. S. 

31.6 

Covered. 

20 

21 

S. E. 

26 

S. S. E. . 

28 

s. s. w. 

24.8 

Covered, clear, snow. 

21 

31 

S. 

32 

S. 

31 

s. 

31.3 

Covered. 

22 

18 

w. s. w. 

19 

W. N. W. 

20 

W. N. W. 

18.5 

Covered, snow. 

23 

21 

E. 

14 

E. 

11 

E. N. E. 

15.1 

Snow. 

24 

5 

E. N. E. 

3 

E. N. E. 

2 

E. N. E. 

+ 3.2 

Covered, snow. 

25 

0 

E. N. E. 

1 

E. N. E. 

— 2 

E. N. E. 

— 0.4 

Covered. 

26 

— 2 

E. N. E. 

— 5 

E. N. E. 

— 2 

E. N. E. 

— 3.1 

Covered. 

27 

6 

N. E. 

1 

N. E.' 

0 

N. E. 

+ 2.3 

Covered. 

28 

— 4 

E. 

— 2 

S. 

10 

S. 

1.2 

Clear, foggy. 

Monthly 

mean 






16.5 









Mar. 1 

26 

S. W. 

28 

s. w. 

26 

w. 

26.6 

Snow. 

2 

17 

N. N. W. 

7 

N. E. 

3 

E. N. E. 

+ 8.8 

Fog, covered. 

3 

— 5 

E. N. E. 

— 6 

E. N. E. 

— 6 

E. N. E. 

— 5.4 

Covered, clear. 

4 

— 5 

E. 

1 

E. 

1 

E. 

— 0.6 

Clear, covered. 

5 

14 

S. E. 

17 

N. E. 

12 

N. N. E. 

+14.2 

Snow. 

6 

— 8 

N. 

— 7 

N. 

— 5 

N. E. 

— 6.5 

Covered, clear, snow. 

7 

—10 

N. E. 

— 8 

E. 

— 5 

E. 

— 7.1 

Clear, snow. 

8 

19 

S. 

7 

N. N. E. 

— 9 

N. 

+ 5.5 

Snow. 

9 

—14 

N. 

—11 

N. 

— 9 

N. 

—11. 2 

Clear, covered 

10 

—11 

N. 

— 7 

N. N. E. 

— 8 

N. 

— 9.4 

Clear, covered, clear. 

11 

— 8 

N. E. 

— 8 

N. E. 

— 8 

N. E. 

— 8.1 

Clear, covered. 

12 

— 8 

N. 

— 7 

N. E. 

— 8 

N. E. 

— 7.6 

Clear, covered, clear. 

13 

— 2 

E. N. E. 

3 

E. 

3 

E. N. E. 

+ 0.9 

Snow. 

14 

4 

E. N. E. 

5 

N. E. 

11 

E. 

6.4 

Covered, foggy, snow. 











































113 

Meteorological observations at Bear Islttnd->— Continued. 


• 

8 a. m. 

2 

p. m. 

8 

! p. m. 

Daily 

mean 

temp. 

Sky. 


remp. 

Wind. 

remp. 

Wind. r 

remp. 

Wind. 

1866. 
Mar. 15 

o 

15 

E. S. E. 

o 

21 

E t 

o 

22 

E. S k E. 

o 

19.6 

Covered, snow. 

16 

26 

E. 

29 

E. 

27 

E. 

27.0 

Snow. 

17 

.21 

E. 

21 

E. 

7 

E. N. E. 

+16.2 

Covered, snow. 

18 

— 6 

E. N. E. 

— 7 

E. N. E. 

— 5 

N. E. 

— 5.6 

Covered, snow. 

19 

— 6 

E. N. E. 

— 2 

E. N. E. 

5 

E. N. E. 

— 4.2 

Covered. 

20 

1 

E. N. E. 

5 

E. N. E. 

1 

E. N. E. 

+ 2.5 

Snow, covered. 

21 

— 2 

E. N. E. 

0 

E. N. E. 

— 1 

E. N. E. 

— 1.1 

Covered. 

22 

— 6 

E. N. E. 

— 7 

E. N. E. 

— 8 

N. E. 

— 6.7 

Covered. 

23 

—10 

N. N. E. 

— 7 

N. E. 

— 7 

N. E. 

— 7.6 

Covered, clear. 

24 

— 5 

Calm. 

+ 3’ 

E. 

7 

S. 

1.6 

Foggy, 

25 

21 

E. N. E. 

17 

Calm. 

— 2 

Calm. 

11.5 

Snow, clear. 

26 

7 

E; 

30 

W. S. W. 

7 

N. W. 

14.7 

Snow. 

27 

6 

E» 

17 

E. 

23 

S. E. 

15.1 

Covered, snow. 

28 

33 

S. 

33 

W. S. W. 

33 

S. W. 

33.1 

Fog. 

29 

33 

s. s. w. 

18 

N. W. 

12 

N. N. W. 

21.0 

Covered, clear. 

30 

17 

E. 

27 

E. 

23 

E. 

22.1 

Covered, snow. 

31 

34 

s. 

35 

S. S.W. 

31 

S. 

33.6 

Fog, covered. 

Monthly 

April 1 

mean 

31 

s. 

17 

N.W. 

12 

N.W. 

6. 4 

19.9 

Covered, srtow> cove’d. 

2 

17 

W. N. W. 

17 

W. N. W. 

15 

W. S. W. 

16.0 

Covered, snow. 

3 

14 

E. 

14 

E. 

5 

E. 

11.1 

Covered, clear. 

4 

10 

E. 

10 

E.N. E. 

6 

E. 

. 8.1 

Covered. 

5 

7 

E. S. E. 

10 

S.E. 

17 

S.E. 

11.1 

Covered, clear, fog. 

6 

30 

S. 

30 

W. 

10 

N. N. W. 

22.8 

Snow, covered, snow. 

7 

19 

N. W. 

26 

W. 

22 

W. 

22.1 

Clear, snow, fog. 

8 

32 

w. s. w. 

33 

W. S. W. 

33 

w. s. w. 

32.7 

Fog, snow. 

9 

21 

W. N. W. 

15 

N.W. 

10 

N.W. 

15.1 

Fog, snow. 

10 

14 

N.W. 

17 

N.W. 

12 

N.W. 

14.2 

Clear, covered. 

11 

10 

N. 

11 

N. N. E. 

6 

E. 

8.6 

Covered, snow. 

12 

10 

E. 

7 

E. N. E. 

6 

Calm. 

7.5 

Snow. 

13 

7 

E. 

6 

N.E. 

3 

E.N.E. 

4.3 

Snow, covered. 

14 

4 

Calm. 

14 

S. 

12 

S. 

11.1 

Clear, covered. 

15 

18 

S. 

23 

S. 

23 

S.W. 

21.4 

Covered, snow. 

16 

3 

N. E. 

— 1 

N. 

4 

N. N.W. 

+ 1.6 

Covered, snow. 

17 

— 2 

N. E. 

— 5 

N. N. E. 

0 

N. 

— 2.2 

Covered. 

18 

6 

N. N. W. 

7 

N. N. W. 

7 

Calm. 

+ 6.8 

Covered. 

19 

14 

W. N. W. 

14 

N.W. 

10 

S. 

12.6 

Fog, clear. 

20 

23 

S. 

27 

S.W. 

23 

w. s. w. 

24.4 

Snow. 

21 

22 

19 

27 

E. N. E. 

s. s.w. 

18 

31 

E.N. E. 

W. S. W. 

21 

31 

s. 

19.0 

29.5 

Fog, covered. 

Covered, snow. 

23 

33 

w. 

33 

N.W. 

31 

W. N. W. 

32.4 

Fog. 


-i 

Jo 



























































114 


Meteorological observations, at Bear Island —Continued. 


Date. 

8. a. m. 

2 p. m. 

8 p. m. 

Daily 

mean 

temp. 

Sky. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

1866. 

o 


o 


o 


o 


April 24 

20 

E. 

14 

E. 

8 

. E. 

14.0 

Snow, covered, clear. 

25 

8 

N. N. E. 

14 

N. 

14 

Calm. 

12.2 

Clear. 

26 

21 

E.N.E. 

21 

Calm. 

18 

N. 

19.6 

Fog, coyered, clear. 

27 

5 

N. E. 

1 

N.E. 

0 

E. N. E. 

1.8 

Covered. 

28 

3 

N. E. 

7 

N. E. 

5 

N.N.E. 

4.8 

Covered. 

29 

7 

E. N. E. 

8 

E. N. E. 

10 

E.N.E. 

8.4 

Covered, foggy. 

30 

13 

E.N.E. 

15 

E.N.E. 

12 

E.N.E. 

13.6 

Foggy. 

Monthly 

mean 






14.0 


May 1 

14 

E. 

19 

Calm. 

15 

S.E. 

16.0 

Clear. 

2 

20 

Calm. 

19 

E.N.E. 

14 

E. 

17.4 

Clear, covered. 

3 

9 

E. 

12 

E. 

11 

E.N.E. 

10.4 

Covered. 

4 

17 

E. 

20 

E. 

23 

E.S.E. 

19.9 


5 

26 

E. 

27 

E. 

22 

E.N.E. 

24.8 

Covered, snow. 

6 

21 

E. 

23 

E. 

26 

E.S.E. 

23.2 

Snow. 

7 

30 

S. E. 

28 

E.S.E. 

27 

E. 

28.2 

Snow, covered. 

8 

23 

E. N. E. 

20 

E.N. E. 

21 

E.N.E. 

21.2 

* 

9 

21 

E. N. E. 

23 

E.N.E. 

23 

E.N.E. 

22.3 

Snow. 

10 

19 

N.E. 

21 

N.E. 

18 

N.E. 

19.0 


11 

14 

N.E. 

21 

N. 

21 

N. 

18,5 

Snow, clear. 

12 

14 

N. 

15 

N. 

14 

N. 

14.4 

Covered. 

13 

15 

N. N. W. 

17 

N.N.W. ' 

18 

N. N. W. 

16.5 

Snow. 

14 

21 

• N.W. 

21 

W. N. W. 

21 

N. N. W. 

20.8 

Snow. 

15 

21 

E. 

21 

E. 

21 

N.E. 

20.8 

Fog. 

16 

21 

N. 

21 

N.E. 

20 

N. E. 

20.3 


17 

21 

N.E. 

•24 

Calm. 

23 

N. N. E. 

22.8 

Snow, fog. 

18 

28 

Calm. 

26 

N. N. E. 

24 

N. E. 

26.1 

Snow. 

19 

19 

E. 

23 

E. S. E. 

22 

E. S.E. 

21.2 

Fog, covered. 

20 

26 

S. S. E. 

26 

S. S. E. 

27 

S. E. 

26.1 

Fog. 

21 

35 

S. 

33 

W. 

37 

S.W. 

34.9 

Rain, covered. 

22 

35 

s. s. w. 

37 

s. s. w. 

31 

W. N. W. 

34.3 

Covered. 

23 

27 

N. 

31 

N. W. 

28 

W. N. W. 

28.6 

Foggy. 

24 

27 

N. N. W. 

29 

N. 

26 

N. N. E. 

27.1 


25 

29 

w. s. w. 

31 

W. N. W. 

30 

W. 

29.7 

Covered, snow. 

26 

26 

N.E. 

26 

N.E. 

24 

E. 

25.3 

Covered, snow. 

27 

26 

E. 

29 

E.N.E. 

31 

E. 

28.4 

Covered. 

28 

31 

S. E. 

33 

E. S.E. 

33 

E. N. E. 

32.4 

Covered. 

29 

31 

E.N.E. 

32 

E. N. E. 

31 

E.N.E. 

31.3 

Fog, snow. 

30 

30 

E.N.E 

34 

Calm. 

38 

s. s. w. 

33.8 

Snow, fog. 

31 

32 

N.E. 

28 

N. 

27 

N. 

29.1 

Snow. 

Monthly 

mean 






24.1 

































Meteorological observations at Bear Island —Continued 


Date. 

8 a. m. 

2 p. m. 

8 p. m. 

Daily 

mean 

temp. 

Sky. 

Temp- 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

Temp. 

Wind. 

1866. 

o 


o 


o 


o 


June 1 

27 

N.W. 

30 

N. W. 

32 

s. s. w. 

29.5 

Snow, fog. 

2 

35 

s. s. w. 

33 

N. N. W. 

34 

W. N. W. 

34.3 

Clear. 

3 

37 

s.w. 

38 

w. s. w. 

34 

W. 

36.3 

Rain, foggy. 

4 

35 

• s. s. w. 

38 

s. s. w. 

35 

W. 

36.3 


5 

37 

w. s. w. 

35 

w. 

33 

W. N. W. 

34.9 

Fog. 

6 

24 

E. N. E. 

24 

E. N. E. 

23 

N. E. 

23.9 

Covered. 

7 

28 

N. N. W. 

32 

N. N. W. 

31 

N.W. 

30.4 

Covered, fog. 

8 

35 

w. s. w. 

35 

Calm. 

31 

S. S. E. 

33.8 


9 

28 

S. E. 

31 

E. N. E. 

31 

E. N. E. 

30.0 

Snow. 

10 

32 

Calm. 

38 

N.E. 

37 

Calm. 

35.4 

Snow, covered. 

11 

34 

Calm. 

32 

E. N. E. 

32 

E. N. E. 

32.7 

Covered. 

12 

35 

S. 

40 

Calm. 

38 

s. s. w. 

37.8 

Fog. 

13 

38* 

Calm. 

39 

s. s. w. 

39 

Calm. 

38.8 


*14 

34 

S. E. 

33 

S. E. 

34 

E. S. E. 

33.8 

Covered. 

15 

32 

E.S.E. 

31 

E. S. E. 

30 

E. S. E. 

30.9 

Fog. 

16 

30 

E. 

32 

E. 

33 

E. 

31.6 

Covered. 

17 

33 

E. S. E. 

34 

E.S. E. 

33 

E. S. E. 

33.6 

Fog. 

18 

33 

E. S. E. 

35 

S. S.E. 

38 

S. S. E. 

35.4 

Rain, covered. 

19 

39 

S. E. 

41 

S. E. 

42 

S. 

40.8 

Clear, covered. 

Monthly 

mean 






33.6 































t 




























« 
















» 


























. • 


» 


V 
























« 








» 













» 




















* 









II. 

THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS Of THE FIRST GERMAN NORTH POLAR EXPEDITION—ISOS. 


A DISCOURSE 


DELIVERED BEFORE THE SOCIETY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES OF HAM¬ 
BURG, DECEMBER 1868, 


DR. W. VON FREEDEN, 

DIRECTOR OF THE NORTH GERMAN “ SEEWARTE.'’ 


EXTEACTS CONTAINING A GENEEAL SKETCH OF THE EXPEDITION 
AND THE PASSAGES DELATING TO THE 
GULF STEEAM. 


FROM THE MITTHEILUNGEN OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTUS 
PERTHES, FIFTEENTH VOLUME, 1869, PART VI. 


















X 












•» 






























* 








































* 


# 





















-r 

































THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 

OF THE 

FIRST GERMAN NORTH POLAR EXPEDITION IN 1868. 


* * * 

The instructions of the expedition were to penetrate as high north as pos¬ 
sible, either along the east coast of Greenland 199 which, it was believed, might 
be reached with the least difficulty north of latitude 74£° N., or to attempt 
to reach Gillis Land, 200 from the south or around the north coast of Spitzbef- 
gen. Captain Koldewey, the commander of it, had, besides, been requested 
by me to make, as frequently as possible, meteorological and especially hydro- 
thermal observations, for the exploration of the horizontal and vertical structure 
of the Gulf Stream, and to be careful in ascertaining the magnetic declina¬ 
tions in the high north, as well as along the Greenland wall. 

The expedition has failed in the first and most important part of these 
purposes; the more valuable, however, are the results of the hydrographical 
and meteorological labors which, by their regularity and 'completeness, and 
the excellence of the instruments used, have not only disclosed to us new 
features of the oceanic and atmospheric relations in the polar regions, but 
have also made it possible to demonstrate in what manner and to what degree 
the last summer, though appearing favorable when viewed from southern lati¬ 
tudes, was really unfavorable for cruises in high latitudes. 

The cruise consists of four attempts to push through the ice; two in the 
direction of Greenland and two toward Gillis Land. 

The expedition left Bergen on the 24th of May, sailing north, with a 
fresh breeze from the south. In testing the qualities of the ship, diligent 
sounding and current observations were not neglected. 

The .first severe test of the vessel happened in a strong gale from the 
north on the 30th and 31st of May, which compelled the commander to heave 
her to, and deprived, at the same time, the expedition of the chance to view 
the summit of Bear Mount ,(6,448 feet high,) on Jan-Mayen, the flashing out 



120 


of which from the sea of fog below it has been described so vividly by Lord 
Dufferin. 

With redoubled energy, on account of this delay, the expedition pushed 
on north. The first drift wood was met on the 1st of June, and on the 4th 
the first drift ice—some pieces 12 feet in diameter—through which a 
westerly course was shaped for Greenland. But the ice soon became cpiite 
dense, so as to necessitate a very careful handling of the ship and much tow¬ 
ing, warping, &c., until, on the 9th of June, in latitude 75° 20' N., longitude 
13° W. of Greenwich, she was completely embayed, and compelled to follow 
for thirteen days, helpless, the ice drift, 201 by which she was carried along the 
direction of the coast to latitude 73° N., longitude 16° W. There was, for 
two days, some sport in hunting polar bears, five of which were killed. 
Soundings were made wherever it was possible, as also magnetic observa¬ 
tions, of which those obtained June 16, on a large piece of ice, were consid¬ 
ered very good. During the same night the coast, from Pendulum Island to 
Hudson’s “ Hold with Hope,” was seen from the masthead. On the 22d of 
June, after four days’ very tiresome warping, the ship got clear of the ice, 
and a northerly course was taken, keeping at a distance of about three miles 
from the eastern limit of the ice, and looking out constantly for a passage 
through it, but none was found; and four ships, which were fishing there in 
the ice, assured the commander that, at present, it would be utterly impossi¬ 
ble to break through to the westward. 202 

This was the end of the first attempt to reach Greenland. On the 29th 
of June, when in latitude 75° 10' N., and longitude 11° 47' AY., the ship was 
turned to the east for Spitzbergen. On this route the water colored to con¬ 
stantly darker shades of blue, and rose steadily in temperature, carrying on 
the surface drift wood 203 and sea weed. On the 3d of July, at 11 a. m., the 
south point of Spitzbergen was made. 

Leaving behind a flotilla of Norwegian yachts, which come here every 
year to hunt and fish, the easterly course was continued into the ice and 
between great icebergs, constantly sounding on the reef—which extends 
between Cape Lookout and Bear Island and is, at places, but 20 fathoms 
below the surface—until no bottom was obtained at 200 fathoms, showing* 
that the extremity of the reef was reached; and the ice, nevertheless, became 
more and more impenetrable. A dead calm making a pressure on the ice 
impossible, the ship was, on the 6th of July, worked back to the west again, 


121 


through the surrounding pieces of ice, which were completely covered 
by seal; and then, during a heavy southeasterly gale, pushed north along 
the western coast of Spitzbergen, until a landing was effected on the 13th 
in the second great fiord, the Bell Sound, at Middle Point, where water 
was taken in, and some excursions made to the summit of the mountains. On 
July 15, after leaving the fiord, the northerly course was resumed with a light 
breeze, past the coast of Prince Charles Foreland which showed its beauti¬ 
ful Alpine scenery in the bright rays of the sun, and, further on, always sur¬ 
rounded by grampus, whitefish, and whale playing in the sea weed; but, on 
the 19th, in latitude 80° 13' N., longitude 5° 52' E., all further progress was 
barred by the northern ice. The ship Jan-Mayen was met there, whose 
commander made favorable reports of the Greenland ice between latitudes 
74° and 72°, and a second attempt there was therefore decided upon. 

The ship was steered along the ice, just clear of it, through alternate 
.green and blue bands of water, southward to about latitude 76° N., and then 
westward into the ice. Profiting from former experience, she now was 
pressed into it at once with all her power, and when not able to break 
through, she was directly withdrawn and another place tried. After two 
unsuccessful attempts, she came, on August 5, in latitude 73° 25' N., as far 
as longitude 17° 22' W., where the rocky coast of Greenland could be plainly 
seen about fifty miles off, a distance which could have been made in two 
watches, but a compact field of ice, reaching apparently to the very coast, 204 
prevented her from going further. Abandoning all further attempts, the inap¬ 
proachable coast was left behind on August 9, steering first east and then 
northeast, in order to make again for Gillis Land, this time on the northern 
route, around Spitzbergen and through Hinlopen Strait. 

A heavy gale, the only one in which the small vessel shipped a sea, 
detained her some days on and below the parallel of latitude 73° N., but after 
that very good progress was made. On the 18th of August Moffen Island 
was reached; the Greenland then beat through the strait, and came to 
anchor in the German Bay, at Cape Torrell. In that vicinity the expedition 
remained until the 11th of September, changing, on account of storms, the 
berth of the ship frequently from one side of the southern entrance to the 
other, and watching whether the breaking of the ice'would open a passage 
in the supposed direction of Gillis Land. 

16 


122 


Throughout all this time observations were made diligently,* on board 
and on shore, of the temperature of the air and of the sea, on its surface as 
well as at various depths, of the magnetic declination, of the tides, &c. An 
excursion was also made on shore, which disclosed two important facts; first, 
that King William’s Island is really an island, as it had been drawn already 
by Scoresby, and not a peninsula, as stated by a Swedish expedition; and 
secondly, that the so-called Northeast Land was incorrectly laid down on the 
chart in its southern part, the German Bay cutting deeper into the land, and 
some capes, beside Cape Torrell, making out to considerable distances east 
of the latter. 

After the ship had suffered much from the ice and lost an 'anchor, and 
as, since September 8, when the first stars were seen in this season, young 
ice began to form at night around the ship and in the straits, the attempt to 
push toward the invisible Gillis Land was abandoned as hopeless, and a last 
attempt made to penetrate north, on the meridian 17° E. of Greenwich. 

On September 13, at 8 p. m., the ship had advanced to latitude 81° *05' 
N., longitude 16° 39' E., the highest point ever reached by a sailing vessel. 205 
A gale was now brewing and the ice was setting against the ship, and as, 
moreover, nothing but thick ice was visible on the clear horizon toward the 
north, she was turned back again. At noon of the 15th she was in latitude 
80° 16' N., longitude 13° 37' E.; on the 16tli, in latitude 80° 14' N., longi¬ 
tude 6° 37' E., and as the ice was found also to bar the progress west, the 
return homeward was determined on; on which, to quote Lord Dufferin, she 
went “as if the girls at home got hold of the tow-rope.” On the 30th of 
September the Greenland lay secure and sound in the harbor of Bergen. 

If even we must acknowledge that the expedition, compared, for instance, 
with Scoresby, who had occasion to correct errors of longitude amounting to 
14°, has but little promoted the geographical knowledge of the northern lands, 
the observations in general will be found the more interesting and well worthy 
to engage our fullest attention. 206 

The question as to the horizontal extent of the warm northeastern cur¬ 
rent, generally named the Gulf Stream, which we trace from the Straits of 
Bernini through the entire North Atlantic Ocean, over the comparatively high 
plateau between the Faroe Islands and Iceland, but far more effective in the 
bed depressed to a depth of 700 fathoms between the Faroe and the Shet¬ 
land Islands, has been solved very satisfactorily by the route taken by the 


123 


expeditian. Theie have also been obtained significant data, from which con¬ 
clusions may well be reached as to the vertical depth of that stream and the 
degree of the decrease of the depth toward the west, and of the alternate 
increase and decrease of the same toward the north. 

I have been able to construct an isothermal chart of the surface of the 
northern sea, on which, without interpolation or the use of mean values, the 
equal surface temperatures, really observed at any time of the day in the 
various positions of the vessel, are connected by curves. In these high lati¬ 
tudes, where a nearly always obscured and foggy sky permits of but little 
insolation which, moreover, on account of the slow motion of the sun, is 
always very evenly distributed, the daily period, even in our latitude scarcely 
perceptible on the high sea, can well be neglected. The absence also of 
cotemporaneous observations at different places did not cause inconvenience, 
as the generally increasing temperatures of July could readily be combined 
with the decreasing of September by assuming for the mean epoch of the 
chart about the 10th of August. The July temperatures, however, which all 
were obtained in the ice off the Greenland barrier, had to be considered 
separately, while the first of the May and the last of the September observa¬ 
tions permitted nearly identical conclusions to be drawn as to the horizontal 
and the vertical structure of the Gulf Stream. 

Beginning with a surface temperature of 54°.5 (10° R.) at the end 
of May, off the coast of Norway, (compare note 33,) we find it soon, 
decreasing to 41°, (4° R.,) and a comparison of the observations for the end 
of May, as well as of those for the end of September, shows that from longi¬ 
tude 3° to longitude 0° east of Greenwich this decrease amounts for each 
degree of latitude up to 71° N. in the average to l°.l, (0°.5 R.,) but for each 
degree further west only to 0°.9, (0°.4 R.,) consequently to twice as much in 
a western as in a northern direction, as the arcs of longitude measure there, 
in length, only two-fifths of the arcs of latitude of equal angular extent. At 
the same time a north-northeastern drift current was observed of twelve 
miles on the way out, and of ten miles in returning, which, however, ceases 
entirely in latitude 68° N., longitude 0° 40' W., as regards the sea west of 
longitude 0°, and is temporarily pushed aside by a cold southeastern counter- 
current, even as low as in latitude 66° N., longitude 0° 40' W. 

Further north, directly from the parallel of Jan-Mayen (71° N., that 
also of the North Cape) up to latitude 77° N., we find a great area of the 


124 


ocean, which from June to September lias a temperature fluctuating between 
32° and 36°.5, is full of melting drift ice, the more so the further west, and 
which has, in alternate bands, of miles in width in the one ; the clear deep blue 
color of the Gulf Stream, in the other the dirty olive-green of the glaciers 
and northern ice fields, originating, according to Scoresby, from the innu¬ 
merable yellow infusorise in these bands, on which the whales, abounding 
there, feed. Beyond this area the isothermal lines, which so far fall pretty 
close together, recede to greater distances from each other in a northern 
direction, and only the curves of 41° (4° R.) and below retain, still north of 
latitude 71° N, a northern direction. 

By a number of well-agreeing observations of the temperature and of 
the currents, the fact has been established beyond doubt that there is in 
July, August, and September, west of Spitzbergen, a long-stretched, narrow 
spur of the Gulf Stream, flowing north and of a minimum temperature of 
41°, which extends to latitude 80° 10' N. on both sides of the meridian of 8° 
E., bounded easterly by a narrow and cold southern coast current running 
along Spitzbergen, and westerly by the great general Polar Current. Beyond 
latitude 80° 10' this spur, still of a velocity of twelve to fourteen miles in 
twenty-four hours, is in part deflected, first northeasterly and then easterly, 
by the polar waters rushing down from the north, until lost in the ice in 
about 81° N. and 15° E., and, partly, it appears to submerge below the ice 
and to flow as a deep-sea current directly north to unexplored regions. 

The above-described extensive basin, of 36°.5 mean temperature, from 
Jan-Mayen to the icy barrier in latitude 77° N., and this last northern spur of 
the Gulf Stream of a mean temperature of 41 ° to 42°, evidently owe their 
existence to the reef between Spitzbergen and Bear Island, and to the rela¬ 
tions of the currents and the ice proceeding from the same. 

It is well known that the Gulf Stream, in consequence of its varying 
temperature, vibrates in its course during a yearly period, in the summer to 
the-northward, in the winter to the southward. The fact that, on account of 
this vibration, the stream does not reach in winter even the southern cape of 
Spitzbergen, is proved indirectly by the monthly mean temperatures of Cape 
Lookout, which are, in November 14°, in December 5°, and in January 
7°.3. 207 But on Bear Island it is possible to work at Christmas in the open 
air, and in Hammerfest we find at the same time the climate of St. John’s, 
in Newfoundland, which lies 20° of latitude to the south of it, on about the 


125 


same parallel as Paris and Vienna, and in January even, the climate of Hali¬ 
fax, in Nova Scotia, which has the same latitude as Genoa. At that time- 
the warm stream flows between Bear Island and the North Cape in an eastern 
direction toward Nova Zembla. 

In March and April, however, Bear Island becomes inhospitable. The 
western compensation current pushes the masses of ice, which part from 
Barents-land and further east from Nova Zembla and North Siberia, against 
and over the reef; a part grounds where there are only 21 to 45 fathoms of 
water, leaving afterward deposits of stone and moraine, of which the Ger¬ 
mania brought home beautiful specimens, 208 and another part comes, eastward 
of the reef, in conflict with the Gulf Stream, flowing now in a more northern 
direction, and sets partially through it, carried along by the winds and the 
cold deep-sea current; thus considerable quantities of Spitzbergen and 
Siberian ice get into the Greenland Sea and unite there with the great arctic 
drift to the southwest, sometimes imparting to it a more western direction. 209 

That The crossing of the two streams really occurs at the place desig¬ 
nated above, is proved conclusively by the deep-sea thermal observations. 210 
It has been established beyond doubt by late investigations on the high seas, 
that sea water reaches its maximum density, or, in other words, its greatest 
gravity, in exactly the same manner as fresh water, at a temperature of 38°.7, 
(3° E.;) and, further, that sea water freezes to ice at a temperature of 27°.5 
after secreting its salt.* 

That, in consequence, a great lake, the bottom of which is not affected 
any more by the annual insolation, must have near the bottom a homothermal 
stratum of a temperature of 38°.7, down to which in the summer a gradual 
decrease, and in the winter a gradual increase of the temperature takes place, 
is a fact irrelevant for the ocean, but facilitating easy conception, as in the 
ocean, with its horizontal currents over unequal depths and the frequent col¬ 
lisions of the same when they come from different directions, there must 
always be a mixing of waters of different temperature. 

It is further clear that when two currents meet from directly opposite 
directions, a lateral deflection of one or both must take place, as we just have 
seen in the case of the two compensation currents south and north of Bear 

* Authorities in physical science have ascertained fresh water to he of maximum 
density at a temperature of 39°.2, but sea water at 25°.38 below its point of congelation, 
which is estimated to be at a temperature of 27°.4. Compare Despretz, in Miller’s Ele¬ 
ments of Chemistry. London, 1807; vol. i, p. 2G2. —Hydrographic Office. 



126 


Island, and those on both sides of the Spitzbergen stream; while, when they 
meet at right angles, the warmer stream must, under the laws of gravity, 
flow across over the colder. 

The observations by the expedition confirm these theories in a very 
interesting manner. While in the latitude of Bergen nearly the same tem¬ 
perature is found in 70 fathoms of water as on the surface, the observations 
in the deep basin near the Arctic Circle, which has a depth of 600 fathoms, 
and even up to latitude 68° N. in about longitude 0°, show distinctly a 
decrease of the temperature of about 0°.6 for each 10 fathoms increase of 
depth. It would be worse than a venture to deduce from these observations 
a general law for all depths, if even such proves correct for a depth of 100 
fathoms in latitude 68° N.; 211 but various observations of September 22, in 
latitude 721° N., longitude 3s° E., save us the necessity of such assumptions. 
In the very region where we just conjectured a submersion, during the summer, 
of the Polar Stream beneath the northern branch of the Gulf Stream, our 
observers, without being aware in any way of such hypothesis, found the tem¬ 
perature of the sea to be at the surface 39°, and at a depth of* 40 fathoms 
37°.6, but at 60 fathoms only 32°. Thus the same stream, which 4° further 
north flows over a basin of a depth, according to the late Swedish soundings, 
of 1,350 fathoms, deep enough to sink all the mountains of the northern half 
of Germany,* the same stream which in latitude 801° N., in a sea of 2,170 
fathoms in depth, enough to submerge the plateau of Bern, in Switzerland,! 
has, at a depth of 100 fathoms, still a temperature of 37°.2—-this same Gulf 
Stream we find, in September, a few hundred miles southwest of Spitzbergen, 
in a shallow bed of but 50 fathoms in depth, flowing away over the submerged 
Polar Stream, which there crosses its course, and which immediately after, 
having passed the reef which has but 20 to 50 fathoms of water over it, 
deepens to 700 fathoms. 

Following this latter stream to Greenland, we find it soon again on the 
surface uniting with the great Arctic Stream which comes down around the 
north coast of Spitzbergen, then flowing southwestwardly with a velocity of 
twelve miles in twenty-four hours over an average depth of 400 fathoms, and 
causing on the plateau between Iceland and Greenland the habitual stoppage 

# A depth exceeding the height of Mount Washington by 2,000 feet.— Hydro- 
graphic Office. 

t Or, with the exception of a few peaks, all the mountains of the North American 
Continent. —Hydrographic Office, 




127 


of ice, which in some years makes the circumnavigation of that island a diffi¬ 
cult, if not an impossible, task. 

While, however, the stony bottom of the reef between Spitzbergen and 
Bear Island, and the entire absence of muddy admixtures in the numerous 
specimens brought home from there, prove to a certainty that the western 
stream reaches there to the bottom, the fine mud of the sea in the vicinity of 
the Greenland coast bears evidence that the common matters of sediment, as 
for instance the siliceous armor and the lime shells of numerous diatomese, 
polythalamise, &c., can settle there undisturbed, and that, therefore, the cur¬ 
rent must be but at the surface. The deep-sea temperatures also are there 
essentially different; on the 4th of August, in 73° 25' N., and 17° 18' W. of 
Greenwich, in 170 fathoms depth, a temperature of but 31° was found. 

In closing this chapter I will yet state that the great depth of the sea 
north of Spitzbergen, (more than 2,000 fathoms,) the strong and regular cur¬ 
rents there, and the entire absence of glaciers or icebergs, (ice walls or so- 
called hummocks of 40 feet in height, which Parry saw, cannot be considered 
as such,) appear to me to be indications of the non-existence of a continent 
or greater islands in the Arctic Sea. On this I base my conviction that an 
expedition for the North Pole would have the best chance of success from 
Walden Island, or Little Table Island, in latitude 81° N., as a basis which 
always can be reached in the autumn, if wintering there is prepared for 
and carried out so carefully that the crew, unimpaired in strength, can push 
north as rapidly as possible, in Parry’s sleigh boats, in the spring, while the 
snow is still hard enough to bear the weight. Parry traveled 1,127 miles in 
sixty-one days, averaging twenty miles a day. 212 If, on account of a colder season, 
and for the absence of currents, we only count on half that speed, the return 
might be easily effected in the autumn. But that a steamer, even the strongest 
iron-clad, would be able there to press through the compact and extended 
fields of ice, is improbable; whether it could be done along the coast of 
Greenland is uncertain; at any rate there is from the part of Greenland, in 
about latitude 75° N., which may be reached, as also from the ice barrier 
north of Behring’s Straits, generally in still lower latitudes, a distance doubly 
as long to the North Pole as that from Walden Island. If, however, the 
problem to be solved is the mercantile or scientific exploration of the Arctic 
region, then the east coast of Greenland would be preferable as a basis 


128 


to the Norwegian coast. Inferences as to the chances of success may be 
drawn from the experience of the previous explorers. 213 

If even precaution requires that the hydrothermal relations of the ocean 
should not be assumed as the same for each year, we may, nevertheless, 
from physical reasons, attribute to them a greater constancy than to the ther¬ 
mal status of the air. But the analysis of the latter is, in the case before us, 
of higher interest, because the loosening and the melting of the ice, and con¬ 
sequently the success of the expedition, depended in a great measure upon 
the temperature of the air. As the intellectual director of the expedition 
founded his instructions upon the assumption that the Greenland coast in its 
normal status is not unfrequently, and under favorable circumstances very 
readily accessible, the inquiry into the actual status of the air must demon¬ 
strate that it was, at least in part, the cause of the failure, next to the uncom¬ 
mon winds which drove the ice together, unfavorably, between the parallels of 
latitude 76° and 72° N. We will see that hardly the winds, but surely the 
temperatures, were abnormal. 

[The lecturer now goes on to demonstrate in what manner and to what 
degree the summer season of 1868 has been an unfavorable one for Arctic 
exploration, discussing the observed temperatures of the air, and comparing 
them with the monthly and yearly isothermal curves of normal temperature, 
constructed by Professor Dove. He shows that the daily mean temperature 
observed on board the Greenland has been for one hundred and four days 
lower, and only for twenty-four days higher than, or equal to the normal 
temperature at the respective places, while these relations had in lower lati¬ 
tudes the reverse character. At Hamburg, for instance, the sum of the 
mean temperatures for the months of June, July, August, and September, 
exceeded the sum of normal means by 14°, while the sum of the monthly 
means of the temperatures observed on board of the Greenland for the same 
period is less than the sum of the normal mean temperatures for that time in 
the respective places, and most remarkably by exactly the same amount as 
the above excess; the excess in the lower latitudes appears to balance the 
defect in the higher. The abnormally low temperatures found there natur¬ 
ally caused a frequent interruption of the melting of the ice and snow, the 
frequent and early formation of new ice, more frequent snow, and nearly con¬ 
stant fogs, all of which contributed to impede and finally to bar the progress 


129 


of the expedition. Two temperature tables appended to the published dis¬ 
course will be found in note 214. 

Mr. Yon Freeden then turns to the discussion of the winds, and closes 
with a few remarks on the magnetic observations, to which a table of the 
compass deviations is appended. These last two chapters are of interest to 
navigation, and therefore given entire as follows.— Hydrographic Office.] 

As abnormal as the thermal relations of the atmosphere of the Northern 
Sea have been during the summer of 1868, they will not give us a complete 
insight into its climate during that time, if we do not consider also the winds, 
or wliat we generally call “the winds and the weather.” Before doing so, I 
will state two very striking cases experienced by other explorers. Parry 
observed in latitude 82° 27' N., longitude 20° 32' E., on the 15th of July, 
1827, after a heavy rain of twenty-one hours’ duration, the temperature of 
the air to be: in the shade 37°.6, in the sun 47°, and at the black gunwale 
of the boat 72°.5, the heat melting the pitch in the seams of the boat; this 
was in a calm, but as soon as a faint breeze arose the thermometer fell every¬ 
where below 40°. Scoresby records that in April 1822, when one hundred 
and fifty miles east of Iceland, in latitude 64° 30' N., he was driven from his 
course by the ice which could only have been drifted there by continuous 
winds from the N. W.; and that, at the end of May, from latitude 75° N., 
longitude 0°, he has been in the ice, into which the Greenland came nearly 
at the same time of the year and on the same parallel, not until reaching the 
meridian 8° W. of Greenwich. I might refer also to the minimum tempera¬ 
ture of —68°.1, observed by Hayes in 1864, which excessive cold he calls a 
comfortable one on account of the calm accompanying it, and which, with the 
slightest stir of air, rose immediately to —29°, but then made the open air 
painful to bear. But all these were winter temperatures, while we have to 
deal with the northern summer of 1868. 

Calms were prevailing during that summer in the Northern Sea. Of the 
773 watches of which the record was kept by the expedition, it was calm in 
117; there were 83 watches with winds from the N., 65 from the N. N. W., 
46 from the N. N. E., &c., (see the table of winds, note 215.) If now Parry 
could observe, in calm weather, so very high temperatures in latitude 82 h° 
N., on the field ice over which he drew his sleighs through knee-deep pools 
of water, an energetic melting of the ice might well have been expected off 
Greenland, five hundred miles more to the southward. 

17 


130 


It is, indeed, my opinion, founded upon the sum total of observations, 
that the quantity of ice before the coast was not greater than in other years; 
but it appears that, on account of the deficiency in the heat of the sun, it 
remained harder and firmer, and was, by the frequent northerly and easterly 
winds, driven together more compactly than found, for instance, by Scoresby, 
who met the ice drifting before westerly winds one hundred and fifty miles 
further to the east, but could, for that very reason, push more readily 
through it. 

The many winds from the N. N. W. to N. E. are, however, not extra¬ 
ordinary. Like the slow waters of the Gulf Stream, the movable masses 
of the air follow everywhere the laws of gravity. The former are moved 
by a u vis a ter go” the centrifugal power, the latter by a “vis a front e ,” 
the aspiration, as soon as the equilibrium is disturbed. With the same pro¬ 
priety as we speak in the sub-tropical regions of a N. E. or S. E. trade wind, 
and in the middle latitudes of a S. W. and N. AY. anti-trade wind, we may 
distinguish in the Arctic and Antarctic regions between a north and a south 
trade wind inclining to the east, as the natural agglomeration of the waters 
toward these regions, and the normal flowing off toward the Equator must 
compensate each other. 

The waters being heated in the equatorial regions, flow, like the masses 
of air, toward the Poles, and passing parts of the earth’s crust, toward which 
they move more rapidly, from their greater participation in the earth’s rota¬ 
tion from west to east, they appear to be deflected easterly; the northerly 
current is turned into a northeasterly drift stream; the upper south wind, 
descending nearer to the earth, on the southern side of the region of trade 
winds, is turned into a S. W. wind. The usage of the expression covers the 
apparent opposite but really the same direction of the movement. Thus 
both, turning more and more westerly, reach the southern limit of the frigid 
zone. But the gap created in the equatorial regions has, before that, caused 
a compensation movement from the Pole; the polar masses of waters and ice 
and those of air, the former finally as a southwesterly drift stream, the latter 
as N. N. E. winds, come down slowly, first in a strictly meridional direction, 
then apparently deflected to the west, on account of the parallels of latitude 
rotating eastwardly. In Europe, moreover, they are deflected laterally by the 
east-westerly direction of the mountain ranges; while, in America, the longi¬ 
tudinal valley between the Alleghanies and the Kocky Mountains permits 


131 


the northern and the southern winds to puss unchecked, thus favoring the 
rapid and great changes in the climate. When unequal forces meet, the 
weaker is pushed back frontally or laterally; and when the forces are equal, 
an agglomeration of both takes place, showing as a calm, as indicated by the 
barometer. The waters of the ocean, more sluggish in their forward move¬ 
ment and less subject to lateral deflections, we perceive, complete their rotary 
courses in more constant beds, subject, however, to some changes in an annual 
period; but it is otherwise with the masses of air, which are doubly agitable 
by their expansion and the changes in the component moisture. In their 
struggles there are light and heavy, long prepared, and sudden attacks from 
either side; the northern stream of air, threatened in its very home by the 
southern aggressor, wards off stubbornly the charges, and assumes the offen¬ 
sive successfully. The phases of the conflict are reflected by the wind-vane, 
the barometer, and the changing form of precipitated moisture. Sometimes 
we see masses of air pushing forward in an equatorial direction, with more 
or less speed; perhaps they are a succor for the struggle south of the observer, 
or perhaps they rush through a region of air less expansive, on account of 
more violent precipitations; the unchanged vane, the steady barometer, and 
wet fogs mark their path. Frequently the constant change of the vane 
indicates that we are within the region of the struggle, and in the Arctic 
region we will find the Arctic relations directly reverse of those in our lati¬ 
tudes, by the changes of the vane in the opposite direction. 

While, in our latitudes, the change of the vane goes, as a rule, with the 
dial of the watch or with the sun, the journal of the expedition shows that 
the wind changed against the sun in gales on fifteen occasions, and in fair 
weather on ten; but with the sun in gales only in six instances, and in fair 
weather also in six instances; and it is further shown by the record that the 
changes against the sun occurred in the northern as well as in the southern 
part of the Northern Sea, but all the changes with the sun only south "of the 
parallel of latitude 75° N. What else can be indicated thereby other than 
that the S. W. wind can push back the Polar Stream for a length of time 
only south of latitude 75° N., always accompanied by pouring rains, 
and not north of that parallel of latitude; and, further, that throughout the 
frigid zone the northern wind is the more powerful one, and that the tend¬ 
ency of the wind to fall back against the sun to the N. to N. N. W. is caused 


132 


by the closer vicinity of the western pole of cold, or tlie region of the least 
beat of the sun in North America? 216 

If permitted to illustrate this physiological review of the changes of the 
winds of the Northern Sea by a few statistical details, I would abstain from 
the use of figures, if it were not for their showing best the character of the 
northern weather. 

We have stated, above, that calms are the most frequent; from this it 
might be expected that the winds would generally be light in the quiet air 
basin over the Northern Sea, and such is really the case. The seaman 
expresses the force of the wind by figures from 0 to 12, those from 0 to 8 
being sailing winds, and from 8 to 12 gales. The average force of all the 
winds noted in the journal of the expedition, inclusive of the calms, is 3.5, 
exclusive of them, 4.1; the average force of all the storms being only 8.4. 
And still we see through the records the old experience that cold winds appear 
to be stronger, as they really are. In fifty-four watches storms were noted; 
each seventh watch is calm, each fourteenth stormy; all storms, without 
exception, were followed by calms. The majority of storms came suddenly 
and went down quickly; the greater gales, however, blew, as with us, for 
some days. The region of the more violent gales is the high sea; they gen¬ 
erally blow from the eastern to northern quarters. Violent storm squalls 
were observed but twice, both times in the southern part of the Northern 
Sea. The greater heat in the summer season in the Siberian, Russian, and 
probably also the Greenland main, in contrast with the mild temperature of 
the sea, is a constant source of compensation; while the close vicinity of the 
Gulf Stream waters to the cold ice fields is the cause of frequent local vio¬ 
lent explosions. 217 

Characteristic of the Northern Sea, but easily explained by the great 
difference in warmth and moisture between the meridians which approach 
each other more and more closely, is the frequency of fog and of the hard 
and liquid precipitations. While, in the average, of one hundred watches 
seventeen entire were foggy, five rainy, and in ten it was snowing; but twice 
a clear, blue sky was seen, against an average of 80 per cent, of covered sky; 
the month of June, off the coast of Greenland, was still more gloomy. The 
Greenland day had, in the average, eight hours of fog, so thick that nothing 
could be seen beyond the length of the ship, four hours of snow drift, besides 
some little rain, and the clear sky was not seen once in June. In a week off’ 


133 


Greenland there are noted forty-six hours of fog, seventy-seven hours of snow, 
and two hours of rain. In a September week, in Hinlopen Strait, twenty-six 
hours of fog, seventy-seven hours of snow, and thirty-two hours of rain. In 
a week ot one hundred and sixty-eight hours, of which one hundred and' 
thirty-five were as before described, the remaining thirty-three were very 
probably transitions from rain into snow, snow into fog, &c. From the 10th 
to the 13th of September an uninterrupted snow drift for sixty-two hours is 
recorded, with flakes so large and thick that the deck had to be cleared off 
every hour. 

It remains only to cast a glance at the last series of observations—the 
magnetic. Though it is inviting, with reliable observations, to unravel the 
mute sayings of the magnetic needle, and to trace the power which, from 
parallel to parallel, from meridian to meridian, and from year to year, changes 
the direction of the magnetic north, I thought it best to wait for more 
extended and more accurate series of observations, to which those before us 
might be added. Magnetic observations on board ship, under the constant 
and varying influences of local attraction, have great difficulties in themselves, 
which are augmented by the inaccuracy of the instruments generally used on 
the high sea. If it has been admitted that, in many of the observations, 
errors of one-eighth of a point were unavoidable, they are still good enough 
tor practical navigation, (we often have to use data far more incorrect,) but 
they cannot be entered in scientific inquiries into the earth’s magnetism. 218 

It is to be hoped that new expeditions will enlarge our knowledge of the 
Northern Sea also in this respect, and that landings at various points of 
Greenland and Spitsbergen may be effected, permitting the employment of 
„ more precise apparatus. 




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III. 

THE SYSTEM OF OCEANIC CURRENTS 


IN THE 

CIRCUMPOLAR BASIN OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE. 


BY 

/ .. 

DR. A. MUHRY. 


FROM THE MITTHEILUNGEN OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE OF 
JUSTUS PERTHES, THIRTEENTH VOLUME, 1867, PART II. 










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•+ 

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THE SYSTEM OF OCEANIC CURRENTS 


IN THE 

CIRCUMPOLAR BASIN OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE. 

By a careful collation, on the basis of a sound theory, of the various 
details obtained so far in regard to the oceanic currents of the circumpolar 
basin of the northern hemisphere, (or, in other words, by the rational com¬ 
position of the hydrographic facts,) it will be possible to arrive at a general 
conception, comprehensible at least in the fundaments, of the disposition or 
the system of these currents, even with our present incomplete knowledge of 
such unsteady phenomena which represent a much complicated and difficult 
part of the telluric system. 

§ 1 . 

We find, in that highest and coldest oceanic central region of our hemi¬ 
sphere, a constant exchange of egressing colder and digressing warmer water 
in exactly equal quantities, the principal cause of which we assume to be the 
difference in the temperature of the equatorial and the polar waters. The 
streams and counter-streams, thus created, must arrange each other, no.t only 
in a horizontal, but also in a vertical distribution. The horizontal distribu¬ 
tion, as also the general directions, are dependent on the configuration of 
the basin, which has a broad aperture only toward the Atlantic Ocean, and 
on the rotation of our globe, on account of which each stream is pushed to 
the right. The vertical distribution is regulated by the hydrothermal law, 
according to which sea water, like fresh water, attains its maximum density 
and gravity at a temperature of about 39°.2. 219 Of two streams meeting each 
other, one or the other, the colder or the warmer, will soon prove the rela¬ 
tively less heavy, and this will continue its course on the surface, while the 
heavier will submerge and flow underneath the lighter, provided that they 
cannot proceed side by side. It must and can be assumed that there is, at 
the bottom of the polar basin, really a temperature of 39°.2, or nearly so, and 
that there is a gradual decrease of it to the surface, where it is 28°; the low¬ 
est of flowing water, just near the point of congelation, below the floating 
18 


138 


field ice of about eight feet in thickness, which, at the top, has perhaps a 
temperature of —58° (—40 R.) 220 

In judging of these relations, it must be taken into consideration that 
there forms, in summer, on the surface, a stratum of water which contains no 
salt at all, or but little—the melted water of the glaciers, sea ice, and snow, 
which floats uppermost only on account of its lack of salt, in consequence of 
which it has lost in specific gravity, (in proportion about 1023 to 1028};—and 
that a misconception of the vertical distribution of temperature may readily be 
caused if there is found water, on the surface, of a temperature of 38°.8, (by 
insolation,) while, in not inconsiderable depths, it proves to be at 32°. This 
apparent reversal of the laws will never occur in winter. Drift-ice and drift¬ 
wood, however, will greatly aid in comprehending correctly this system of 
currents. 

The conception resulting from a combination on the basis of such theory 
of the facts obtained is strictly applicable only to the summer, (all the many, 
but local or momentaneous drifts and counter-drifts, those caused by the 
winds for instance, &c., must, of course, also be excepted;) it is, however, 
not probable that the places and the directions of the permanent and funda¬ 
mental currents of the ocean are essentially different in the winter, because, 
with the motive of the exchange, the movement must remain, even if beneath 
the firm ice near the coasts; that this ice also moves, at least near its edges, 
has been observed repeatedly, especially in Baffin’s Bay, through ships which 
were frozen in and drifted southwardly with the current. 

We now turn to the exposition of our own conception of the phenomena 
in motion, which, however, must be taken but as parts of a great whole, to 
which we shall refer first. 

The great circumpolar basin, representing in its outlines pretty nearly 
the circumference of a circle, is bounded by the north coasts of the great 
continents, Asia, Europe, and America, and about the parallel of latitude 70° 
N., beyond which these continents reach only in some few places to 76° N., 
and in one to 82°; ai;d is connected but on one side, in the northeast of the 
Atlantic Ocean, by a wide aperture embracing about the fifth part of the cir¬ 
cumference, with the general mass of the oceanic waters of our planet. In this 
coldest oceanic central region, at the vertex of the hemisphere, (the central 
space of which is, however, not .yet known, but may, for good reasons, be 
assumed to be water,) is the source (or the central point of origin and return) of 


139 


the latitudinal, or that general oceanic circulation which supplies, between 
the Pole and the Equator as the extreme ends, or between the center and the 
circumference, an exchange based upon the differences of temperature, or, 
which is the same, upon the differences of gravity as the motor, and 
which might be named thermal circulation. The opposite extreme region 
of exchange, the warmest of the ocean, is in the vicinity of the equatorial 
belt, and has, in the Atlantic basin, the form of an oblique triangle, with the 
basis toward the Caribbean Sea. In comparing the temperature relations of 
these two extreme regions we may adopt, as the general rule, that in the 
equatorial belt the temperature of the sea decreases with the increase of the 
depth, from 82° at the surface to 39°.2 at the depth of 7,000 feet, (the 
average depth is surely 20,000 to 30,000 feet;) but that in the polar basin, 
on the contrary, it increases from the surface downward from 28° to 39°.2, 221 
(the greatest depth measured is 8,400 feet in latitude 76° N., longitude 13° 
E. of Greenwich.) There is consequently, at the bottom of the entire ocean, 
an undisturbed stratum of an even temperature of 29°.2, (the liomothermal 
ground stratum,) representing at the same time the heaviest stratum of 
water; but, as at the surface of the ocean the temperature decreases also 
toward the Pole, that lowest stratum must, in the direction of the latter, 
be reached in lesser depths; that is, ascending by degrees obliquely, it 
must reach, finally, the surface at the isothermal curve of 3° R., (39° F.,) 
and thence it must, toward the north, again descend obliquely, leaving now 
the colder and consequently less heavy water above it. This normal process 
was ascertained more clearly and decisive in the less encumbered ocean of 
the southern hemisphere than it could be. in the narrow aperture of the 
northern polar basin, especially by Sir James Ross, (Voyage of Discovery and 
Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, 1847.) According to this 
process the homothermal ground stratum should, at about the sea isothermal 
curve of 3° R., (39° F.,) form, as it were, an annular wall around* the polar 
basin, separating the waters of the southern and northern latitudes, and pre¬ 
venting the circulation between them; but, as this circulation takes place, 
nevertheless, that temperature wall must be broken by still another motor 
as that of the difference of temperature, and this we find by considering, 
also, with the general system of the diffusion of the temperature, the motive 
power of the telluric system of the oceanic currents. In short, this general 
system of the oceanic currents consists of two tendencies crossing each 


140 


other—a latitudinal and a longitudinal—each of which represents a circula¬ 
tion with two momentums, current and compensating counter-current. The 
latitudinal circulation results from the difference of temperature, (as explained 
above and assumed already by Arago, and not from the difference in saltiness, 
or from the differing quantity of evaporation and rain, which cannot supply 
a circulation, at least a permanent one.) The longitudinal circulation con¬ 
sists of the broad rotation current which proceeds along the Equator toward 
the west or the equatorial current, (a discovery of Columbus,) with an anti- 
rotation current, as a necessary compensation, flowing back again on each 
side of it in higher latitudes; its motor is, aided by the trade-winds, the 
rotation of the planet, and especially, as must irrefutably be deduced from 
the phenomena, the centrifugal power, directly or indirectly. The broad 
mass of water, some thousand feet in depth, which at all times is driven 
westwardly, not only along the Equator, but also throughout the belts of 
calms, (where the trade-winds cannot be the motor,) requires*at its fountain a 
strong compensation, for which also a part of the waters of the higher lati¬ 
tudes, inclusive of those of the polar basin, are drawn down. (The process 
is more distinctly represented in the southern hemisphere by the Antarctic 
currents on the west side of each of the three great continents.) By these 
waters the intervening temperature wall, the crown of the homothermal 
ground stratum, must be torn, and thus the circulation between the extreme 
waters, differing in temperature and gravity, is effected and maintained. 222 

§ 2 . 

If we now confine ourselves to our more narrow limits, we find in the 
aperture of the circumpolar basin the two momentums, of which the circula¬ 
tion consists, the egressive and the ingressive, more close to each other, but 
still separated by Greenland. The entire circulation must be distinguished 
as an eastern and a western part, each of which consists of an outflowing, 
colder polar stream, and a sufficiently compensating, inflowing, warmer anti- 
polar current. What we see of them in the aperture of the basin, (we may 
embrace it by naming it a channel, extending along both coasts of Greenland 
from the south point to latitude 70°, and even 80°,) however, are but the 
first stages of the outflowing polar, and nearly the last of the inflowing anti- 
polar currents; because both these, the first soon after its egress, the other 
soon after its ingress, disappear from the surface, immersing and proceeding 


141 


as submarine currents, when and where, in consequence of their temperature 
relations, they become heavier than the waters before them. 

There are, therefore, to be distinguished: 

I. The outflowing momentum, or the Polar Current. 1. The eastern 
branch. 2. The western branch. 

II. The inflowing momentum, or the Anti-polar Current; that is, the 
northern extension of the Gulf Stream. 1. The eastern branch. 2. The 
western branch. 

III. A problematical current along the middle line containing both 
momentums. 

§ 3 . 

I.—THE OUTFLOWING MOMENTUM, OR THE POLAR CURRENT. 

Looking upon the circumpolar basin from above, that is, in its polar 
projection, in order to combine the various statements of the polar explorers 
in regard to the currents, the drift-wood, and the drift-ice, it will be discov¬ 
ered that there is an egressive momentum in two branches. It is not only 
explicable, but may also be seen clearly from established facts, that streams, 
some degrees of longitude in width, extend from about Behring’s Straits to 
the eastward and to the westward, along the coasts of the basin, seeking an 
outlet into the Atlantic Ocean, which is only possible between America and 
Europe, where there is a channel by the aperture, in width about the fifth 
part of the circumference of the basin; while the Behring’s Straits are so 
narrow and so shallow that they can hardly be considered at all as an ingress 
or an egress of the waters of the ocean, although an inflowing surface stream 
and an outflowing under-current have been observed there, at least* in the 
summer. 

1. The Eastern Polar or Arctic Stream .—This branch is especially called 
the Arctic Stream, because it was for a long time the only one known. It is 
not at all doubtful that a westerly current flows along the entire north coast 
of Siberia, from the easternmost part of it. Such a current has been observed 
and is reported from the mouth of the Kolyma to the mouth of the Lena. 
F. Von Wrangell, during his remarkable three years’ stay at Nishne Kol- 
ymsk, (latitude 70° N., longitude 160° E.,) and in his travels on the ice, (com¬ 
pare his narrative of a voyage along the north coast of Siberia, 1839,) found 
that a firm border of ice forms in the winter along the entire coast of the 


142 


great continent, to a distance of about one hundred miles, which, in the 
warmer season, parts from the land, and, broken into fields and flakes, drifts 
toward the west, receiving on the way also the ice and the drift-wood of the 
rivers which empty there into the basin. It is remarkable that, although 
the south side of New.Siberia consists, so to speak, of drift-wood intermixed 
with ice, a sea free from ice has been found to the north of it, (compare 
Hedenstrom, in Erman’s Archive for the knowledge of Russia, 1865.) In 
the winter the current is said to flow here, in the extreme east, on the con¬ 
trary, to the east, which is confirmed by Wrangell. It is possible that, from 
some cause, the other half of the polar egressive current, which, looked upon 
from the Atlantic Ocean, must be called the western half, begins its course 
even some distance west of Behring’s Straits; but such is still doubtful, 
and it is difficult to inquire into it, on account of the ice which covers the 
sea in winter. In the summer, however, an error in this respect is the less 
possible, as there are no tides in this region; a deception can be caused only 
through the winds. 

In tracing the eastern Polar Stream in its further course toward the 
west, there are no records of it off the Taimyr coast, but we find it again on 
the east coast of Nova Zembla, which island must naturally be an obstacle to 
its progress; the waters are checked there, the ice and drift-wood are packed 
so as to form, as Yon Baer expresses it, “ an ice-house even in summer,” 
which is proved, in comparison with the western side of the island, to be 
such, by the always low temperature and the consequent complete absence 
of vegetation, reported by all the Russian navigators and explorers of the 
Kara Straits, and Matotchskin Schar or Matthew’s Straits, (Paclitussow, 
Zinolka* Yon Baer, and others.) But the stream must proceed in order 
to find an egress from the basin; it goes around the north coast of the island, 
in latitude 76° N., where the Dutch explorer, Barents, suffered from it: in 
trying from the west to round the north point, his ship was, by the ice 
flakes pressing against her, lifted, like drift-wood, completely out of the water 
and hurled on the low east coast of the island, where the wreck perhaps may 
be seen still. Yon Llitke, at a later date, found the northern part of the 
west coast comparatively free of ice, (more so than the southern part of the 
same coast and the northern coast of Russia,) but on the parallel of the north 
point he met the southern border of apparently thick ice, (compare H. Berg- 
haus, Hertha, “Zeitschrift fur Erdkunde,” 1825;) this, doubtless, was the 


143 


southern border of the ice stream, our eastern Polar Stream. The latter does 
not proceed from there to the south, directly for the outlet from the basin, 
but strangely keeps on its western course, and even more northwesterly, 
until reaching the east coast of Spitzbergen, whence it turns to the north and 
around the northern coast of this group. It. cannot but strike the observer as 
remarkable that it takes this longer route, instead of following the direct line 
to the outlet, along the west coast of Norway. There must be an obstacle pre¬ 
venting the-latter, and such really exists; it is the broadly inflowing current, 
the main branch of the anti-polar counter-current, that is, the Gulf Stream, 
proceeding northeast to about latitude 74° or 76° N., when, submerging 
beneath the Polar Stream, which still flows in a vertical direction to that of 
the other, it ceases to be an obstacle. The Polar Stream shows its presence 
on the east and the north coasts of Spitzbergen (latitude 80° N.) very decid¬ 
edly, by the,accumulation there of ice and drift-wood, the.latter exclusively 
on the east coast, and nearly all pine. In regard to the packed ice it is 
stated by whalers (compare Barrington, “The Possibility of Approaching the 
North Pole/’ 1828) that, in several years, vessels have sailed around the north¬ 
east coast of Spitzbergen, but such is but exceptionally practicable. 

From the northwest point of Spitzbergen the stream proceeds south¬ 
west, finding finally a free egress; it touches the east coast of Greenland, but 
the northern part of this coast, at and beyond latitude 75° N., remains free 
from it ; 223 the stream cannot accordingly have a great width, which fact is cor¬ 
roborated north of Spitzbergen by Parry, who had nearly reached the north¬ 
ern limit of it in latitude 82° 44' N., and also at the south cape of Greenland, 
where it has been found to be about eighty nautical miles broad, and the ice 
more dense and consequently more difficult to be broken through. Its velo¬ 
city, from latitude 76° N. to Cape Farewell, has been found, by whale ships 
embayed in the ice, to be twelve nautical miles in twenty-four hours, which 
is corroborated by Graah and Scoresby, (the same velocity as that of the 
western Polar Stream in Davis’ Straits, the so-called Labrador Stream.) 
With its southern, or now southeastern edge, the stream touches Jan-Mayen 
and the northwest point of Iceland. In its course along the east coast of 
Greenland it also receives ice flakes and even icebergs, and is there quite 
narrow, until some degrees south of Cape Farewell, but not more south than 
latitude 58° N., and not more east than 41° W. of Greenwich, it disappears 
from the surface. The cause of this disappearance is, in our opinion, a con- 


144 


flict there with a considerably higher tempered branch of the Gulf Stream, (the 
temperature relations being about 32° to 48°,) flowing as a compensation anti- 
polar counter-current to the north into Davis’ Straits and along the west coast 
of Greenland, in consequence of which conflict the Polar Stream, as the heavier 
water, sinks beneath the other, and proceeds thence as a deep-sea current, 
probably to the intertropical region. This conception, however, differs from 
the generally adopted one, which is that the current running along the west 
coast of Greenland is this very Polar Stream, which, after flowing along the 
east coast and arriving at the south point of Greenland, turns around that point 
and proceeds north. This is against all theory, because, if inquiry into the 
motive is made, none will be found; facts also point to a different arrangement 
of these phenomena. These facts are most excellently stated by Irminger, (in 
the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1856, and before that in the 
“ Zeitschrift fur Allg. Erdkunde, 1853 and 1854, and lately in 1861;) but they 
have not been properly applied in forming the theory of currents; the two en¬ 
tirely different streams have never been distinguished. 224 When discussing the 
western Anti-polar Stream, (in section 6,) we shall take up again this question. 

§ 4 . 

2. The Western Polar or Arctic Stream .—This current, with its masses 
of ice, among which are the greatest icebergs of the northern hemisphere, is 
well known as the “Labrador Stream” on the western side of Davis’ Straits 
and Baffin’s Bay; but it may readily be traced much further back to its 
source. As far back as north of Behring’s Straits the principal current is 
an easterly one, and also on the west side of the westernmost and greatest 
islands of the Parry Archipelago, Bank’s Island, and Prince Patrick Island, 
the tendency of the Polar Stream to an easterly course is unmistakable, and 
sometimes even very distinct, quite as much as the easterly current is on the 
east side of Nova Zembla and Spitsbergen. Not only on the west side of 
Bank’s Island is the sea from the Siberian coast covered by impenetrable 
masses of ice, as has been experienced by Cook, Kellett, Rodgers, and, 
in the immediate vicinity of that island, by Collinson and McClure, who 
saw it there packed in terraces; but also drift-wood, partly petrified and 
carbonized, is piled up on the west coast of the island in such great quanti¬ 
ties that that coast may be said to consist mostly of wood. (Compare Alex. 
Armstrong, Northwest Passage, &c., 1857, p. 395.) Similar facts were 


145 


found by the sleigh parties of Belcher’s Polar Expedition on the west coast 
of Prince Patrick Island, and on the southwest coast of Melville Island; and 
finally we have, in addition, the distinct statement of McClure, who remained 
for two winters in that region, that there is on the west side of Bank’s Island 
•a constant motion of the sea toward the east. (Compare McDougal, the 
Eventful Voyage, &c., of the Ship Resolute, 1857, p. 141.) 

There is, further, no doubt of the existence of an easterly current within 
the Parry Archipelago, the field of so many explorations and winter stop¬ 
pages, although the flood tide sets there to the west; and we can trace its 
course uninterruptedly from Melville Bay through Barrow Straits and Lan¬ 
caster Sound, then southerly along the west coast of Baffin’s Bay and Davis’ 
Strait, always covered with thick ice, 225 past Hudson Bay, from which ice is 
still added, and along the coast of Labrador, until finally at Newfoundland, 
or more accurately at the great bank on the east side of Newfoundland; 
this Polar Stream, or, as termed in the last, part of its course, the Labrador 
Stream, (the velocity of which is said to be twelve nautical miles per day,) 
disappears from the surface, sinking below the warmer waters of the Gulf 
Stream, which flows here toward the northeast; only a small part of it pro¬ 
ceeds uncovered, close to the American coast in a southwest direction to the 
south point of Florida; the principal part flows as a deep-sea current through 
the Atlantic Ocean to the equatorial region. (Compare J. Kohl, in the “ Zeit- 
schrift fur Allg. Erdkunde,” vol. xi, 1861.) 

The well known thick fogs of the vicinity of Newfoundland bear evidence 
of the great difference of temperature of the two streams, (the Gulf Stream 
has there, according to Maury, about 59°) a contrast, perhaps, nowhere else 
to be found. The Polar Stream, when submerging, must naturally leave its 
icebergs on the surface; these, however, do not drift with the Gulf Stream, 
in a northeasterly direction back to the polar basin; on the contrary, they 
keep on in their former course toward the south, and prove thus the con¬ 
tinued progressing of the now submarine western Polar Stream in that direc¬ 
tion, and at the same time the shallowness or the inconsiderable depth of the 
Gulf Stream, which may also be concluded from its fan-like expansion. 

Only few icebergs are found in the eastern parts of this region; accord¬ 
ing to Rennell they never cross the meridian of 46° W. of Greenwich, (that 
of Cape Farewell.) It was considered a very extraordinary phenomenon when 
James Ross met two great icebergs in latitude 61° N., longitude 6° W. 

19 


146 


From the fact, that they never go south of the parallel of latitude 41° N., it 
would follow that they melt very rapidly, which may be attributed partly to 
the high temperature of the Gulf Stream, and partly to the inconsiderable 
cold of the icebergs themselves, which, because saturated with water while 
they were glaciers, keep at least at their core at a temperature of 32°. 

A very remarkable evidence of the course of the western Polar Stream 
through the American Polar Archipelago, as traced above, is borne out by 
the fact that in different years four ships beset by ice, and therefore unman¬ 
ageable, (those of Poss, De Haven, and McClintock, and the abandoned 
Resolute,) drifted the very same course through the center of the Parry 
Archipelago to Davis’ Straits. 

It is very probable that the cold stream,which rises to the surface on 
the northwest coast of Africa is a continuation of this western Polar Current, 
serving as a compensation for the rotation current and reaching to the Guinea 
coast. 

We now must turn still higher north to see whether this western Polar 
Stream exists, and has been found also along the north coasts of the Parry 
Islands, (latitude 77° N.,) to where the celebrated sleigh expeditions of Bel¬ 
cher, Richards, Osborn, Hamilton, Mecham, McClintock, Penny, Sutherland, 
&c., have penetrated. It can readily be seen from the various reports that it 
exists there, but also that it is much more inconsiderable than further south, 
and carries much less ice and drift-wood along, deposits of which, however, 
are found on the northwestern coasts, entirely in consonance with the theory. 
(Compare the paper of Dr. Petermann, in the “ Geographische Mittheilun- 
gen” of 1855, pp. 98 et seq.: “The discoveries in the Arctic Archipelago, 
from documents of the British Parliament and the Admiralty.”) Among 
other facts it is stated there that “between Grinnell Land and North Corn¬ 
wall Island (latitude 77° N.) very thick ice was encountered, and that it had 
packed to the height of 40 feet on the western sides of the islands;” then 
again: “The drift-wood consisted of but few small pieces, probably American 
larch-fir, originally from the Mackenzie River, and drifted around the north 
coast of Prince Patrick Island;” and lastly: “There was far more drift-wood 
on the northwest coast of Prince Patrick Island than anywhere else on the 
polar coasts of the entire Parry Archipelago.” 

It must yet be noticed that also in the Kennedy Channel, which as a 
continuation of Smith’s Sound lies in a north and south direction; a perma- 


147 


nent southerly current has been observed on the western side, however 
without drift-wood and drift ice, while on the eastern side another current 
was flowing in the opposite direction. This is reported by Morton, a reliable 
sailor of Kane’s expedition. 

§ 5 . 

II. THE INFLOWING MOMENTUM, OR TIIE ANTI-POLAR CURRENT, (THE GULF STREAM.) 

This warmer compensation counter-current we can distinguish only in 
the cliannel-like aperture of the basin, hut we cannot follow it into the basin 
itself, even if this should be accessible throughout, as the last spurs of the 
Gulf Stream, which form it, submerge below the surface, either before or 
soon after entering the basin, thenceforth fulfilling their purposes of compen¬ 
sation as submarine currents. As coming from the Atlantic Ocean, the inflow^ 
ing current is generally called the northeastern branch of the Gulf Stream; 
it is in fact but the warmer compensation current for the cold central region 
at the Pole in the latitudinal or thermal circulation; while the other, the 
southeastern branch, represents the compensation in the longitudinal or rota¬ 
tion circulation, the primary momentum of which flows along the Equator in 
a westerly direction. In this manner tlie entire.Gulf Stream is considered to 
be a double compensation current, which surely is a correct conception. 

There must, corresponding to the outflowing waters, be also two branches 
of the inflowing current distinguished—an eastern one, the greater by far, 
and a western, weaker one. 

1. The Eastern A nti-polar Stream, (the Scandinavian part of the Gulf 
Stream .)—It is most remarkable how the Gulf Stream, though so narrow 
after its exit from the Gulf of Mexico, through the Straits of Bernini, along 
the coast of Florida, (but ninety-six miles in width, 2,000 feet in depth, of an 
average temperature of 86°, and with a velocity of four miles per hour,) 
expands on its further course toward the northeast, (which direction it must 
take on account, as well of the situation and the form of the aperture of the 
polar basin, as of the earth’s rotation,) fan-like and fluctuating, “similar to a 
streamer,” shallowing mo.re and more and getting slower in proportion. Its 
northern extent, excepting the branch which, parts first from the main and 
flows into Davis’ Strait, reaches from the southwest coast of Iceland to the 
west coast of Norway. There is, besides, a western branch, flowing 
along the west coast of Iceland, (compare Irminger’s account of it in the 


148 


“ Zeitschrift fur Allgemeine Erdkunde, 1854, p. 183, Ocean Currents,) and 
this, the Iceland part of the Gulf Stream, reaches as high as the northwest 
point of the island, in about latitude 66° N., as proved unmistakably, not only 
by the drift of the water, but also by the higher temperature of the sea at 
this point, viz, 48°.9; while, on the southwest coast, the annual mean is only 
41°.9, rising, in the summer, to 51°.6. Sartorius Yon Waltershausen also 
testifies (in his Physical and Geographical Sketches of Iceland, 1847) to the 
Gulf Stream reaching the south and the west side of Iceland; and O. Torrell 
(Geographische Mittheilungen, 1861) says that the few pieces of drift-wood 
which he found on the south coast of Iceland were mostly mahogany; that on 
the north coast, however, the greater part was pine-wood. 

From the south coast of Iceland the main branch of the Gulf Stream,' 226 
now extending over the entire distance from Iceland to Norway, flows slowly 
to the northeast into the Arctic basin up to the parallels of latitude 74° and 75 
N., or about that of Bear Island. Vessels pushing north through this region, 
according to all accounts, never meet drift ice there in the spring; whalers say 
that the southern edge of the pack ice is generally reached in latitude 74° N., 
and that there is no difficulty in any season in reaching thus high; this, how¬ 
ever, does not refer to the east coast of Iceland. Lowenorn (in his Description 
of the Coasts and Seas of Iceland, page 3) says in regard to that: “ The (polar 
current, along the north coast of Iceland, sets distinctly to the east; drift¬ 
wood and drift ice are found more on the western and northwestern sides of 
the tongues of land jutting out from the main, as, for instance, at Langenae’s, 
&c.; thence they drift northeast toward and into the main Polar Stream.” 
(Compare also Irminger, “The Currents and the Drift Ice at Iceland,” in the 
Zeitschrift fiir Allg. Erdkunde for 1861, where, on an accompanying chart, 
valuable observations of the temperature of the sea will be found.)* That 
along the line separating two streams whirlpools occur, is natural, and they 
may be expected also at other places. To complete the account, it must be 
stated that polar drift ice has sometimes been found also on the east and 
northeast coast of Iceland; icebergs even have come around the southeast 
point as far west as Westmanno, again a proof of a lateral counter-current. 
There are, in general, along great currents small counter-currents, created by 
the former, especially in the vicinity of coasts. 

It is well known that nothing exists on the north coast of Norway, (in 
latitude 71° N.,) and to about the middle of Lapland, (longitude 35° E. of 
* Irminger’s Memoir will be found in Note 30. 




149 


# 


Greenwich,) of the nature of that broad belt of ice which, in other places, 
girds the polar coasts of the great continents'all around the basin; but imme¬ 
diately to the east of that meridian it is found again, beginning at the south¬ 
eastern extremity of the inflowing warm current, about north of Archangel. 
Already Leopold Yon Bucli (in his Narrative of a voyage in Norway and Lap- 
land, 1810) states that the north coast of Norway is free of Siberian ice even 
in winter, and that ice islands are seen on the far horizon first when eighty 
or one hundred and twenty miles north of the North Cape. 

In following the Scandinavian branch of the Gulf Stream in its further 
course to the northeast and north, its conflict with the cold outflowing stream, 
which comes down upon it after turning around Nova Zembla, will be the 
next point of interest. At first sight it would appear that the Polar Stream, 
after having passed the head of Nova Zembla, might simply take the 
shortest route for the now open aperture of the basin, to the east of the 
inflowing Gulf Stream. That such is not the case is very probably caused 
by the earth’s rotation, in consequence of which both the two streams which 
flow toward each other are pushed to their right,, and, as they now meet 
under a very obtuse angle, a lateral giving way is impossible; therefore, and 
because they differ greatly in temperature, their relation of gravity must 
exert its influence and decide for the vertical arrangement which now takes 
place. 227 According to hydrothermal laws the warmer Gulf Stream must, in 
this case, be the heavier, as it now must be cooled down to the temperature 
of the maximum density of water, (sea water included, as according to expe¬ 
rience the presence of salt does not change the law in this regard,) that is, to 
39°.2, while to the uncongelated parts of the colder Polar Stream no higher 
temperature can be attributed than between 34° and 28°, (the latter temper¬ 
ature, as well known, being the lowest at which sea water can remain liquid, 
that is nearest to congelation and expansion to ice, and therefore found in 
winter just below the ice* as the temperature of the uppermost stratum, if 
this is not water without salt.) We have a good knowledge of the tempera¬ 
ture of the Gulf Stream in this very region, between Scandinavia and Spitz- 
bergen, and the hydrothermal investigations have, in fact, proved the temper¬ 
ature there to be as surmised above. The French Scientific Commission 
(compare Gaimard, Voyage Scientifique de la Commission du Nord, &c., 
1838,) of which Bravais, Martins, Liliehook, Siljenstrom, Lottin, &c., were 
members, found there, between latitudes 74° and 77° N., the temperature of 


I 


150 


the sea, in the summer, to be in the mean 38°.7, that of the air being 36°.5. 228 
There is hardly any doubt that this inflowing warmer stream, the Gulf 
Stream, in the conflict spoken of above, proves to be the heavier water, and 
submerges below the surface between Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, in the 
summer in about latitude 76° N., in the winter, perhaps, in about 74° N.; 
while the outflowing colder stream, coming from the east, as the lighter of 
the two, proceeds on its course with its drift ice and drift-wood over the 
other. How else could the inflowing stream disappear so quietly? And 
there is also no doubt that the latter continues on its course as a deep-sea 
current for compensation within the circumpolar basin, in which there is a 
motive and sufficient room for its great volume of water. 

There is, perhaps, even very probably, also on the west coast of Spitz¬ 
bergen, a lateral branch of the great inflowing current, the Spitzbergen 
branch of the Gulf Stream. A number of authorities assume this to be a 
fact; for instance, at latest dates, Malmgrdn. (Compare the Swedish Expedi¬ 
tion to Spitzbergen in the Geographisclie Mittheilungen, 1863, number xi.) 230 
The western side of Spitzbergen is surely much more free of drift ice and 
drift-wood than the eastern, and can be reached in all seasons up to latitudes 
75° and 76° N., although northwest and west winds must cause ice to be 
carried there. 

§ 6 . 


The Western Anti-polar Stream , the Greenland Branch of the Gulf 
Stream .—The theory requires that there should also exist an anti-polar warm 
counter current corresponding to the western branch of the polar outflowing 
waters, which first is perceptible on the western side of Davis’ Strait, and is 
generally called “West Stream.” This compensation stream is, according to 
our conception, the stream flowing northward on the eastern side of Davis’ 
Strait, along the western coast of the southernmost part of Greenland, 
remaining, however, only for a short distance on the surface, a branch of 
the Gulf Stream. 

This conception is not that commonly adopted, and, recurring to this 
question, already alluded to on a previous page, we shall now state facts in 
support of it, or rather give to existing facts the interpretation pointing to 
our views, in opposition to the generally adopted assumption that the warm 
stream of the western coast of Greenland is a continuation of the cold Arctic 


.151 


Stream which, coming down southward along the eastern coast, is made to 
turn around the southern point, thence suddenly to proceed north, without 
any evident motive. In fact, this course would be against its motive, which 
is a primary attraction, located in the far south. The case is analogous to 
the remarkable current relations on the Agulhas Bank at the southern end of 
Africa, differing only as much as the warm (the Mozambique) stream flows 
on the east coast, and upward, while the cold stream proceeds along the west 
coast and downward. Foggy and stormy weather is also frequent on the 
south end of Greenland, but the correct conception of the currents there is, 
after all, more difficult on account of an additional element, the drift ice and 
the drift-wood, which really drift around the south point, and to the west 
coast. A more thorough inquiry into the case, however, will soon show that, 
when a stream submerges beneath another one, the ice and wood swimming 
upon the former must necessarily be transferred to the surface of the latter, 
and henceforth proceed in the latter’s direction. Especial testimony for our 
conception, that the northerly current along the west coast of Southern 
Greenland is a branch of the Gulf Stream, will be found in its direction, its 
higher temperature, and the tropical drift-wood carried by it. 

This direction Irminger corroborates, inasmuch as he proves in the 
memoir cited above that there is no connecting current running from Cape 
Farewell southwesterly to Newfoundland. John Boss and W. Parry have 
really established, by observations south, southwest, and west of Cape Fare¬ 
well, that a current flows there northwest; and Graah comes to the same con¬ 
clusion from the higher temperature of the sea water in the entrance to 
Davis’ Strait, where he observed 41°. (Compare Journal of the Boyal Geo¬ 
graphical Society, 1856, p. 42.) 

For the higher temperature of this* current, although it must naturally 
be cooled down in some degree at the surface by the ice swimming on it, we 
have climatic and meteorological proofs. In the first instance it follows from 
’the extremely mild climate' of this western coast between the cold climate of 
the eastern coast on one, and the equally cold climate of the coast of Labra¬ 
dor on the other side. N. Egede, still the best witness, says in this respect, 
(Natural History of Greenland, 1740,) “A most beautiful bay is situated 
between latitudes 60° and 61° N.; birch trees of 18 feet in height grow 
there as well as grass; although barley does not ripen, turnips and cabbage 
thrive well; beyond the parallel of 65° grass even does not grow.” Just so 


152 


far the warm stream in question reaches; there it disappears from the sur¬ 
face, submerging like all other anti-polar branches of the Gulf Stream at 
about 38°.8, which is proved, in addition, by the fact that also drift-wood 
and drift ice only reach as high north. The warmer climate is also proved 
by meteorological observations at various places; at Lichtenau, (latitude 
60° N., longitude 46° W.,) for instance, the mean temperature of the year 
is not lower than 33°.8, and of the winter than 21°.9; that of the summer, 
however, is only 43°. Of the temperature of the sea in the stream itself we 
have only few, but still corroborating statements; about 3° of latitude south¬ 
east of Cape Farewell the sea showed in the beginning of May on the surface 
46°.2, and at depths of 600 to 1,200 feet still 44°.4, (according to Graah.) 
We have already stated that in the entrance Jo Davis’ Strait, between the 
drift ice, 41° was found by Graah. Fink (Groenland Geographisk Bes- 
krewet, 1857, in the “Zeitschrift fiir Allgemeine Erdkunde,” 1857) makes the 
valuable statement that here, outside of the islands, the sea never freezes, 
and that at times pieces of ice are lifted upon the land about 12 feet in thick¬ 
ness, and of the form of a table with a leaf and a smaller foot; the leaf evi¬ 
dently had been above the water and melted less quickly, from which it may 
be argued that these ice pieces had drifted into warmer water. 

There are, lastly, also accounts of tropical pieces among the drift-wood 
in this stream, such as are found in the Gulf Stream. More detailed accounts 
of the drift-wood in this stream are given by Dav. Cranz, (Historie von 
Gronland, 1770;) according to them most of it is pine and cedar; also larch- 
tree and asp. Irminger (“On Oceanic Currents,” in the Zeitsclirift fur Allge¬ 
meine Erdkunde, 1854, p. 187; compare, also, Gumprecht “On Drift- 
Wood,” &c., in the same periodical, p. 409) mentions that various kinds of 
mimosse are thrown on the coasts of Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and 
also of Greenland; and in the already cited memoir of Irminger, published 
in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1856, it is stated, in a 
foot-note by the editor, N. Shaw, that, in Holsteenborg, (latitude 67° N.,) a 
mahogany plank, found at Disco, (latitude 70° N.,) had been worked into a 
table for the governor. 

The end of this western inflowing warm anti-polar current is, as might 
be expected, the same as that of the other branches; it disappears from the 
surface and becomes submarine; this occurs as soon as the temperature cools 
down to about 38°.8, generally in about latitude 65° N., fluctuating, however, 


153 


m some degree in the various seasons, as supposed and apparently confirmed. 
It will be well to inquire more thoroughly into the manner and the place of 
this disappearance, in which again the ice will aid. Cranz already states 
that the drift ice and the drift-wood are carried, in latitude 65° N., by a coun¬ 
ter-current to the American coast. Irminger says, in this respect, that the 
stream proceeds northward, along the southwest coast ot Greenland, to about 
latitude 64o N., sometimes even to Holsteenborg, latitude 67o N., and then, 
turning westward, doubtless unites with the stream which comes downward, 
carrying along enormous masses of ice. Rink discusses the question more 
iully; according to him, the drift ice appears on the southwest coast of Green¬ 
land, generally from February to June, but there is, in the autumn, a second 
installment; in the height of summer, (July and August,) and in winter, there 
is none. In regard to the disappearance of the current in the north, he 
assumes that the northern spur of this tongue of drift ice, which, from lati¬ 
tude 62° N., has, in the average, a width of only twenty to twenty-four miles, 
after proceeding slowly to about 67° N., diffuses there into the sea toward 
the west. These statements may well be brought into accord with the con¬ 
ception that also this branch of the Gulf Stream becomes a submarine one; 
the ice, the greater part of which will have melted, must then be transferred 
to the colder and, in this case, lighter water; and because this cannot pro¬ 
ceed in the direction diametrically opposite to that of the southern stream, 
but must turn aside, it is drawn to the western side of the strait, where the 
Labrador Stream flows southward. There is also the rare chance here to 
trace the submarine continuation of the inflowing warmer stream beneath the 
colder water further north—a fact, though doubted by many, not improba¬ 
ble in itself, and in full accord with the laws for the hydrothermal changes 
with the density of the sea water, (which laws, together with the theory of 
the vertical arrangement of oceanic currents, find just here their clearest 
proofs,) and which fact, in this case, is but a counterpart of the much better 
known submarine continuation southward of the outflowing cold Polar Stream y 
athwart and beneath the Gulf Stream, whereby so numerous icebergs drift 
southward, especially in May. Such testimony for a submarine current in 
the opposite direction to that of the surface water is also found in Davis’ 
Straits by the icebergs, which, immersed some hundred feet 229 and following 
the under current, drift northward against the surface current, and also against 
the wind. For this fact there are trusty witnesses, for instance, Kane, De 
20 


154 


Haven,. Griffin, Duncan, and others; (compare M. Somerville, Physical Geog¬ 
raphy, 1858, p. 219.) It is very probable, even doubtless, that this inflowing 
anti-polar compensation stream, corresponding to the outflowing stream, con¬ 
tinues submarine through Baffin’s Bay, and thence, perhaps, one branch 
through Smith Sound to the center of the basin, and another, possibly the 
only one, through Lancaster Sound, Barrow Strait, Bank’s Strait to the 
region of Behring’s Straits, where, as stated in the beginning, the source of 
the Polar Stream must be looked for. 

There is only yet to be ascertained where its original separation from the 
Gulf Stream takes place; this is pointed out by the fact that within the Gulf 
Stream icebergs do not proceed further to the east than to about longitude 
43° to 46°; there they probably find that bar. 

§ 7 . 

III. THE PROBLEMATICAL CURRENT ALONG THE CENTRAL LINE OE THE POLAR BASIN. 

To complete the inquiry into the arrangement of the inflowing and out¬ 
flowing currents of the circumpolar basin, there is yet the status of the waters 
within the interior of it to be discussed. 

We have thus far been able to establish through facts that an outflowing 
current proceeds along the periphery of the basin to both sides, the east and 
the west, from Behring’s Straits to the aperture, which current floats down 
in the summer the ice bordering the coasts in the winter, and parting then 
from the latter, thus creates a constantly moving belt of pack ice, which some¬ 
times contains great fields of ice, and in places also icebergs. This belt has 
formerly been considered a general coat of ice extending to the Pole, (Scoresby, 
Buchan, Belchei, Lutke, &c.;) but in all the investigations at various places, 
all around the basin, the polar edge of this ice has been found at the 
distance of two to three degrees of latitude from the coast. From this state¬ 
ment, however, it must not be inferred that the polar outflowing current 
along the coasts is only of that width; we have, on the contrary, traced it to 
the north coast of the Parry Archipelago, (latitude 77° N.,) where the belt 
of pack ice hardly shows its polar limit. That oceanic currents expand 
where there is room, and again that they contract where they are pressed, 
and, as a consequence, respectively shallow or deepen, may be seen, especi¬ 
ally, in the course of the Gulf Stream; but the narrow bed of the eastern 
Polar Stream, along the east coast of Greenland, is remarkable. 


155 


From such a retrospect the question must arise, whether there is not 
any indication of an outflowing tendency along the middle line of the basin; 
that is, from about Behring’s Straits across the Pole to the aperture above the 
Atlantic Ocean. If the center of the basin is not occupied by a great agglom¬ 
eration ot land, such current may well be expected, and would accord with 
the theory of hydrodynamics, as may readily be seen simply by emptying a 
saucer. It remains, however, to be ascertained whether there are facts from 
which it may be inferred. 

Before all, the inflowing compensation current points to it, as well by its 
great width, (the entire space between the west coast of Iceland and the 
northwest coast of Norway,) as also by its direction, which is for the greater 
part directly toward the north. As fo direct indications of the diametrical 
current coming from the north, if it exists, such can only be looked for above 
the aperture ot the basin, in the so-called Greenland Sea north of Spitsber¬ 
gen, and there only beyond the eastern Polar Stream which flows from the 
east to the west and southwest. Observations, in this respect, and state¬ 
ments would only be found in the records of Scoresby, Parry, Clavering, and 
those of whalers collected by Barrington. On the coasts of the Asiatic and 
American Continent, however, the current in question could appear only 
respectively as an eastern or a western one. In regard to the latter we have 
seen, on the north coast of the Parry Archipelago, not only indications of a 
weak easterly and southeasterly current, but also decided climatic signs of a 
sea toward the north free of ice, admitting, in the summer, of animal life 
and vegetation, and this in latitude 77° N. We do not know of observations 
beyond the polar limit of the belt of pack ice north of Siberia, except on 
New Siberia, (latitude 76° N.,) but the north coasts of this island are not 
known well enough for our question. 

In regard to the region north of the aperture of the basin there is, first, W. 
Scoresby, 231 who, however, never came beyond the northern limit of the ice-belt; 
he says, (in his classic book, Account of the Arctic Regions, Edinburgh, 1820,) 
“It is possible that the icebergs found in the sea between Greenland and Spitz- 
bergen may come from the Pole,” (from which the assumption by him of a 
current coming from there might be inferred;) and then again: “A part of 
the current coming from the east, and carrying broken fields of ice, has its 
source also at the Pole.” Parry found directly north of Spitzbergen, from 
latitude 81° to 82° 44' N., on the meridian 20° E. of Greenwich, that the 


156 


higher he came north, the more broken and weak became the ice; the 
expected unbroken and firm ice would not appear, but the ice moved con¬ 
stantly southward, although the wind blew from the south. Clavering’s 
experience on the northeast coast of Greenland (latitude 75° 12 / N.) testifies, 
at least, to the absence of a strong current there, from which it may be 
inferred as probable, not only that the current has found its polar limit before 
reaching so far, but also that a current coming from the north is not entirely 
wanting there. Whalers, lastly, state that there is an open sea in latitude 
78° N. beyond Greenland; that the ice opens there with northwesterly 
winds; that winds, currents, and ice are very variable there; that there is no 
drift-wood in the far north, and that (as also Scoresby said) a part of the ice 
drifting from east to west comes from the Pole s% 

We may, therefore, well say that indications of a current from the 
north are. not wanting there, even if no one has thus far penetrated high 
enough to investigate it directly. If existing, it must be received by the 
Polar Stream which runs across the aperture of the polar basin in a curve 
ascending beyond Spitzbergen, and which hides it from the south. All these 
indications point also to the correctness of the general assumption of the 
oceanity of the inner basin, or the absence of land there, which does not pre¬ 
clude the existence of isolated islands and rocks inferred from the ice coming 
from there, and from the birds of passage going there. 

§ 8 . 

Herewith we conclude our attempt to delineate a conception of the cur¬ 
rents of the polar basin of the northern hemisphere, which will be in accord 
with the facts thus far established. We hope it will be found that the results 
of our labors are at least satisfactory in regard to this harmony of facts, so that 
we may call it a system. The conjecture, also, that there is not, north of 
Spitzbergen, a region of firm ice extending to the Pole, and that there is only 
a not very broad belt of pack ice* though containing also very large fields of 
ice, to be penetrated in order to reach an open sea, will, from the above com¬ 
position of facts, have gained more weight than it had already. 232 

It was, however, not our intention, as the reader himself will have seen, 
to favor any undertaking for the purpose of reaching the Pole. This should be 
left to the practical navigator. The thinker must finally stop in his researches, 
not only where he finds subjective limits, but also where nature places 


157 


objective bars, beyond which nothing remains but, as our great poet says, 

4 ‘to worship the inexplicable.” But what has been attained by our review 
will not be without use, also, for the practical navigator, directly for whalers, 
as well as indirectly for the general theory. The latter, or, more correctly 
expressed, the completion of the general geographical or telluric system of 
the oceanic currents, was our especial purpose. 

The principal results of our researches are, in short, as follows: As 
egressive currents there are two streams, one from the east and the other 
from the west, flowing along the circumference of the circumpolar basin, 
where, in the winter, a shore border of continental ice is formed, which they 
float in the summer to the aperture. Thus a moving ic6 belt is created, of 
about eighty to one hundred and twenty miles in width, in which the whaler 
finds his game. Scoresby has never reached its northern limit, but Parry 
has reached and even gone beyond it. The digressive current (the Gulf 
Stream) extends from the southwest coast of Greenland to the north coast of 
Norway. Both the polar streams, the eastern at the southwest coast of Green¬ 
land, the western on the east side of Newfoundland, submerge beneath the 
Gulf Stream, as the antipolar, where the temperatures are 32° to 47° and 
32° to 59°. The antipolar currents (the branches of the Gulf Stream) we 
see submerge at four places, on the west sides of Nova Zembla, of Spitzber- 
gen, of Iceland, and also of South Greenland, where the temperatures are 
about 38°.8 to 32°. That there is also a current along the central line of the 
basin to the aperture, is indicated by facts. 




























4 




■a 


* 































* 



♦ 









































•«. 













IV. 


APPENDIX. 


PRELIMINARY REPORTS 

OF THE 

SECOND GERMAN NORTH POLAR EXPEDITION, 

AND OF 

MINOR EXPEDITIONS IN 1870. 











[The following papers appeared in the u Mittheilungen” of the Geographical Insti¬ 
tute of Justus Perthes, after the foregoing had been given to the printer. They contain 
the preliminary reports of the Second German Uortli Polar Expedition, which has just 
returned home, and of minor expeditions still in the held, the labors of all of which 
will add materially to the knowledge of the northern extension of the Gulf Stream. 

These outline sketches are added here in translation with the view of republishing 
the scientific results bearing upon the Gulf Stream as soon as they are elaborated and 
published in Germany.— Hydrographic Office.] 


A. 


THE SECOND GERMAN NORTH POLAR EXPEDITION, 

FROM 

JUKE 15, 1869, TO SEPTEMBER 11, 1870. 


Report of Captain Koldewey. 


[The expedition, placed under the direction of Captain Koldewey, who had also 
conducted the first expedition in 1868, consisted of two ships, the new steamer Ger 
mania, of 143 tons and 30-horse power, under the immediate command of Captain Kol¬ 
dewey, and the sailing yacht Hansa, of about the same capacity, and commanded by 
Captain Hegemann. 

The scientific gentlemen accompanying the expedition were Dr. Borgen, astrono¬ 
mer; Dr. Copeland, physicist; Lieutenant Payer, geologist, and Dr. Pansch, naturalist, 
on board of the Germania; Dr. Laube, physicist, and Dr. Buchholz, naturalist, on the 
Hansa. —Hydrographic Office.] 

I. THE CRUISE OF THE STEAMER GERMANIA. 

The expedition left Bremerhaven June 15, 18.69, in presence of his 
Majesty the King. The ships were towed into the North Sea by tug boats 
of the North German Lloyd, and started on their northerly course with a 
breeze from the S. W. The wind, however, shifted soon to the N. W., and 
prevailed from that quarter during the following weeks, detaining the vessels 
so much that the first ice was not seen before the 15th of July, in latitude 
74° 49' N., longitude 10° 50' W. of Greenwich. The Hansa had been lost 
sight of, in the meantime, during a thick fog off Jan-Mayen, but was again 
met in latitude 75° N., and taken in tow by the Germania. The weather, 
during the succeeding days, was foggy; the ships lay on and off to the 
southwest, and parted again, on the 20th of July, in a fog and through 
the misinterpretation of a signal. The Germania met Rosenthal’s' steamer 
Bienenkorb, by which letters were sent home; she then penetrated into the . 
ice. Unsuccessful attempts to break through were made, under steam, in 
various places, and continued to the 29th of July, when the Bienenkorb was 
seen again; then a northerly course was taken along the edge of the heavy 
ice, to try it further north. Everywhere, however, the ice was found com¬ 
pletely closed. In latitude 74° N., at last, loose drift ice was found, through 
21 




162 


which the ship could apparently make its way. Steam was got up, it being 
nearly calm under the ice. For twelve hours, until 10 o’clock of the next 
morning, (August 1,) no obstacles were encountered; the pieces of ice were 
sufficiently loose to steer through them without difficulty, and nearly two 
degrees of longitude were gained, when we again came to firmly-packed ice. 

The Pendulum Islands were now in sight, and, beyond the packed ice, 
the open water, anxiously looked for, could plainly be seen, really existing* 
As the ice had shown, in the last hours, a tendency to break toward the east, 
the ship was made fast to it, to wait for a change; this position was evidently 
the most favorable which could have been reached. 

For the- following days thick fogs prevailed, but otherwise the weather 
was good. On the 3d of August the air cleared; we had drifted to the east, 
but the ice to the west had loosened more. The Germania now steamed on; 
we soon came to great fields, between which, however, were channels wide 
enough for the ship to pass; in a few instances force was required. After 
passing the meridian 17° W., we were beyond the most difficult part, and 
could proceed with more ease, until, at 5 a. m. of August 5, we came to an 
anchor in three fathoms water, on the south side of Sabine Island, one of the 
Pendulum group. During the passage through the ice, as many soundings 
and temperature observations had been made as the circumstances would 
permit. 

In the succeeding days Sabine Island was surveyed, its geographical 
position proving in accordance with General Sabine’s determination; the 
magnetic constants were ascertained, and the other necessary labors carried 
out by the scientific 'personnel of the expedition, all of which were finished 
by the 10th. A mountain permitted a far view all around; it was, however, 
not a gratifying one, as the shore ice was seen to be broken only on the south 
side of the Pendulum group, while to the north, between the main and Shan¬ 
non Island, it lay completely firm. There was no trace whatever visible of 
open water along the coast north of latitude 74° 32'. Firm ice, some years 
1 of age, extended, without the least break or even a crack, for some miles 
east of the easternmost islets, the southern coasts of which only were partly 
free. A passage, however, to the southeast point of Shannon Island, and 
perhaps farther, appeared p ssible. 

We steamed, really without difficulty, to Cape Philipp Broke, and found, 
also to the east of the island, between the ice bordering the coast to a dis- 


163 


tance of about four miles and the packed ice, a navigable channel, one to 
three miles in width; in a few places only there was a bar of thick pieces of 
ice, through which, however, the ship, could readily break. The shore ice 
was at the edge, in some places, 40 feet high, a warning witness of the 
immense pressure of the fields. 

In latitude 75° 3F N., longitude 17° 16' W., our advance was suddenly 
checked; the field ice connected here firmly with the shore ice, and no water 
at all could be seen noith. The ship was made fast to the shore ice, in order 
to wait and see whether a change might occur; but in vain. The strong 
refraction of the light on the following days exhibited but too plainly the fact 
that there was no open water to the north for a great distance. 

Under these circumstances it was unanimously concluded to anchor, if 
possible, on the south side of Shannon Island, in order to explore it. From 
its mountains the movement of the ice could be watched, and ascertained 
whether the fields toward the north would drift away. The shore ice had 
broken away, during the last days, from Cape Philipp Broke, and the Germania 
was anchored there in three fathoms water at noon of August 16. The explo¬ 
ration of the island was commenced immediately, and continued until finished. 
Shannon Island is considerably larger than shown on the charts; the north¬ 
eastern point lies in latitude 75° 26' N., longitude 18° W., and the west coast 
runs nearly due north. The island makes, on the whole, a sad impression. 
There is, however, on the plains of the west coast, in places, sufficient vegeta¬ 
tion to furnish food for the herds of the musk-ox, which we found here. The 
first animal of this species met with was shot at Cape Philipp Broke on 
August 16. 

Our hopes for a change in the ice were not realized. The pack ice, on 
the contrary, came from the east closer to the coast; even the part between 
Shannon and Pendulum Islands which, in the beginning of August, had been 
free, now filled in. Our anchorage became more insecure every day; there¬ 
fore when, oh August 26, the scientific labors were completed, and no one could 
see a possibility for the present of penetrating further north, it was deemed 
best for the purposes of the expedition to return to Pendulum Island, in order 
to explore it also, and to prepare a sleigh-expedition for the exploration of one 
of the fiords. Our only hope for the further progress north in this season 
rested upon the gales of the autumn, which possibly might tear an opening 
in the ice. 


164 


The ship consequently turned south again, August 27. In the last nights 
so much young ice, now already about an inch thick, had made between the 
drift ice that we could push through only with full steam, often having to 
repeat the assault in the same place. A sailing vessel would have been com¬ 
pletely helpless, as there was bnt little or no wind. Calms are decidedly 
prevalent on this coast in the summer, as we had occasion to observe in both 
years. The Germania came to anchor, at 11 p. m. of August 27, on the south 
side of Little Pendulum Island, in five fathoms water. 

The first part of September we were occupied with the survey of the 
group and scientific explorations, hunting in leisure hours the musk-ox, rein¬ 
deer, &c. The ice did not part; even some violent gales from the north 
made no impression on the inert mass. The shore ice between Shannon Island 
and the main remained unchanged; the ship was confined more and more 
to closer quarters, and even an attempt to enter Gale Hamke’s Bay failed, as 
this also was already full of heavy ice. During the calms more young ice 
formed, and though it broke again with each northerly wind, there were all 
the signs of the approach of winter. 

On the 13fh of September the Germania lay again inside of the small 
harbor on the south side of Sabine Island, in which she had anchored August 
5. The preparations were now completed for the sleigh-expedition into the 
interior, on which the party assigned to it started at noon of the following 
day. On the preceding night again young ice had made in the straits and 
around the ship, so that we found it rather difficult to work the boat to the 
old ice, which was to the westward of the ship, distant from it about four 
miles. On the latter, however, the water pools were already completely 
frozen, and the travel in the sleigh was therefore pretty quick and easy. 
During the following days we penetrated into the inner part of a fiord (bight) 
which had been free of ice in the summer, but was now covered with smooth 
ice three inches in thickness. A mountain, 4,000 feet high, was ascended, 
and angles taken from the summit for the chartographical labors of Lieuten¬ 
ant Payer. This summit offered a fine view for great distances over the 
surrounding mountains and far to the northeast over the sea. In the latter 
direction, beyond the north point of Shannon Island, the eye could detect 
nothing but ice. The fields had not yet moved, and probably had never 
parted from the shore ice. It now proved inevitable, as all had expected, 
that we would be compelled to winter at Sabine Island, the only practicable 


165 


and secure winter-harbor on the entire coast between the parallels of latitude 
77° and 74° N. 

On the return to the ship Lieutenant Payer discovered, on an island, 
brown-coal beds and found numerous petrifactions. The vegetation on this 
coal island was, in comparison with that of Shannon Island, rich, especially in 
andromedae, (heath plants.) Large herds of the musk-ox and reindeer grazed, 
there. We could kill from the tent as many of these animals as we chose, 
but unluckily could take only few with us, as the sleigh was already heavily 
laden. 

On the 22d of September we arrived again on board. Those who had 
remained there had not been idle in the mean time; various preparations for 
the winter had been made, the ship carried further in, some musk-oxen, rein¬ 
deer, polar bears, and walrus killed, &c. A violent gale from the N. had 
blown in the night from the 20th to the 21st, but had not been able to break 
and drive off the young ice; this had already a thickness of some inches, per¬ 
mitting us to go over it on board. 

The preparations for the winter were now entered upon to the fullest 
extent. By sawing through the ice the ship was brought still further in, until 
she lay in 10 feet water, but a short distance from the land. A single night 
was sufficient for her to freeze in firmly and immovable, so that neither anchor 
nor chains were needed. After that the greatest part of the movables and of 
the provisions were transferred to the shore, the engine was taken to pieces, 
the cabin enlarged and fitted, the yards and the running gear taken down, 
and the deck completely roofed over. On the shore two observatories were 
built, one for magnetic and'the other for astronomical observations; and in 
the latter the meteorological instruments were suspended and fixed, which 
from that time were read every hour. Moss was collected and the deck of 
the ship covered with it some inches high. Lastly, a wall of snow and ice 
was erected around the ship. .The ice had, in the middle of October, formed 
to the thickness of fifteen inches. 

We now could quietly await the winter. Our arrangements were such 
that we could produce a great heat with comparatively little fuel, and, in fact, 
the consumption of coal never exceeded, throughout the winter, 70 pounds a 
day, even in the greatest cold, (—40°;) the heaters of Meidinger of Carlsruhe 
proved to be most excellent. The proceeds of hunting during the autumn 


16(5 


were about 1,500 pounds of fresh meat, furnishing nearly daily throughout the 
winter fresh reindeer or musk beef for all hands. 

Toward the end of October a sleigh expedition, in a southern direction, 
was undertaken by Lieutenant Payer and Dr. Copeland, resulting in the dis¬ 
covery of a new fiord, a survey of which was made. The expedition returned 
^November 4, in good health, although much fatigued from very great exer¬ 
tions. This was the last of all the greater excursions for 1869. 

On November 5, at noon, the sun appeared, for the last time this year, 
above the horizon; it was not seen again before the beginning of February. 
Polar bears also, which had thus far been at all times around us, were no more 
seen; the reindeer and the musk-ox withdrew to the better pastures at the 
heads of the fiords. Nature had assumed a rigid and lifeless aspect ; the polar 
night of three months was before us. The general disposition of our little 
company, however, was nevertheless very cheerful; no one feared great hardship 
or sickness, as we had all the means to conquer successfully the rigidity of 
winter. There was also no lack of occupation or entertainment; the field 
work of the past season and the present observations were to be computed, 
and smooth copies of the records made; drawings had to be made, and even 
the regular routine service occupied some hours daily. A fine library on 
board, presented by publishers, was diligently availed of; besides it, a navi¬ 
gation school was instituted, which found much favor with the crew. Time 
thus passed quickly; Christmas, the middle of the polar night, came before 
the absence of the daylight had been much felt. The only annoyance were 
the frequent snow-storms from the north, some as violent as hurricanes, 
which often prevented for days all moving about in the free air and even 
under the roof of the deck. The snow, in the form of fine dust, penetrated 
through all the joints and crevices of the wall and the tent-canvas, so as to 
cover the deck in places some feet high. The heaviest storm, and of longest 
duration, blew from the 16th to the 20th of December, with uninterrupted 
violence, often in hurricane-like gusts, which made the ship, although it was 
firmly frozen in the ice, tremble from the keel to her tops. 

This northern gale broke the ice which already had attained a thickness 
of some feet, 300 paces south of the ship, and also east of the island, so that 
now a narrow channel of open water was visible along the southern coast. 
We were thankful that the small size of the ship had permitted her to be 
brought so close to the shore; a larger vessel, which must have remained in 


1G7 


16 to 18 feet of water, would surely have broken loose, and must have been 
lost among the ice so violently agitated by the hurricane. After this gale the 
weather was quiet for some days ; light and warm southerly winds raised the 
temperature, which had been as low as —17° to —19°, at Christmas to 
+25°. This, however, was, on account of the arrangements against the cold 
weather, in the cabins more inconvenient than the severest cold. Christmas- 
Eve was celebrated with open doors, and there was dancing on the ice in the 
starlight. A small Christmas-tree, composed of evergreen heath plants* 
(andromeda,) was lit, the cabin decorated with flags, and on the table the 
gifts were exhibited which friends at home had laid in for the purpose. 
Every one received his part, and happiness reigned throughout the ship. 

After the holidays the various problems to be solved with the change of 
the weather were thoroughly considered. Preparations for the sleigh-excur¬ 
sions of the spring were entered upon at once; tents, covers, boots, and other 
apparel were either made new or altered, according to our own experience 
of the last fall; sleighs were repaired, cooking utensils made, provisions 
packed, &c. . 

On New Year’s Eve we bade adieu to the old year which, with the 
exception of but tew mishaps, had in the whole been favorable to us, and 
entered upon the new with the best hopes. 

January brought mostly beautiful and quiet weather, though again a 
temperature of from —13° to —40°; so that many astronomical and mag¬ 
netic observations could be made. The aurora borealis appeared in its sub- 
limest glory, and was carefully observed by Drs. Borgen and Copeland, who 
obtained valuable results. 

In the last days of January the twilight at noon grew gradually brighter, 
and the meteorological instruments could be read for some hours without 
the aid of a lamp. Everybody looked longingly for the appearance of the 
sun, now soon to be expected, the long absence of daylight at last beginning 
to influence the good humor. On the 3d of February, the sky being com¬ 
pletely cloudless, we saw with great joy, from the summit of a near mount¬ 
ain 800 feet in height, the sun rising at noon above the horizon in full 
splendor. 

At the same time we had also a view over the ice outside. As far as the 
eye reached nothing but a connected white mass was visible; no crack or crev¬ 
ice anywhere; all frozen close together. Only along the coast was thin young 


168 


ice, as since the December gale each successive strong blow had partly torn 
the freshly formed ice. 

With the appearance of the sun business was entered upon more lively; 
greater excursions were made into the interior of the island, in which, how¬ 
ever, the always armed parties had to use great precaution against the polar 
bears, which now began to stroll about; nevertheless some surprises occurred, 
happily without serious results, though the attacked were sometimes pressed 
hard; one of the scientific gentlemen received an ugly wound in the head, 
and was carried along by the bear more than 200 paces; he recovered, how¬ 
ever, in a few weeks. The astronomers began to lay out a base for the 
measurement of an arc of the meridian. But snow-storms set in again with 
the greatest fury, and it became so cold thaf the thermometer fell to its 
lowest figure this winter, (—40o;) we, however, had not the pleasure of seeing 
the mercury frozen. The winter, in general, w 7 as not a very severe one, and 
the temperature on the whole pretty even, which may be attributed in part to 
the water opening with each storm. 

In the beginning of March all the preparations were finished for the 
first great sleigh-excursion north, the objects of which were especially geo¬ 
graphical exploration and hypsometrical measurements. W e left the ship on 
March 8 at 9 a. m. in two sleighs, manned by twelve men. The second 
sleigh, under command of Mr. Sengstake, the first mate, was to provide the 
principal sleigh during the first week with provisions, to leave a small depot, 
and then to return on board in order to prepare for the excursion of the 
astronomers who intended to explore the area over which the triangulation 
for the measurement of an arc of the meridian was to be laid. 

Our voyage in the beginning, as far as the young ice of one year’s 
growth reached, was quick and easy; but as soon as we came to the old ice 
the road became worse with every step. The storms had torn large holes 
in the snow, and although the latter was hard and firm, the sleighs moved 
with such difficulty that all hands were compelled to draw first the one 
sleigh, and then return for the other. After a fatiguing day’s march we 
had not reached the northeast end of the island; the sleighs had neces¬ 
sarily to be lightened, and provisions were deposited in a covered place; the 
tents were then put up for the night. The next morning we went on, but 
with no better success; it was concluded, therefore, to add two men to the 
greater sleigh, to enlarge its tent, and send the smaller sleigh back at once; 


169 


these labors were finished in the afternoon; Mr. Sengstake went back, and 
we erected our tent about a mile from the northeast end of the island. The 
temperature had, in the mean time, fallen to —29°, but our covers gave us 
sufficient protection. Much was yet to be altered in our arrangements; 
we found that our mode of life had to be simplified much, in order to make 
better progress; the dead weight of the sleigh could perhaps be lessened 
sixty to eighty pounds by reducing the utensils and the apparel to the abso¬ 
lutely indispensable. When, therefore, on the next morning the tempera¬ 
ture was found to be still so low that the sleigh could be drawn over the 
snow only with the greatest difficulty, we turned homeward to carry out 
these various changes. We left the provisions on a mountain, and arrived at 
the ship in the afternoon of the lltli, a little frost-bitten, but otherwise well. 

It was fortunate that we returned. A series of violent gales would have 
• prevented all progress, and compelled us to remain in the tents, which is 
more weakening than the most fatiguing march. At last the weather 
appeared to change for the better; the new and more simple arrangements were 
made, and we started again on the 24th of March. But the temperature had 
not changed in the great ice desert north of the Pendulum Islands. We 
again found —29°; nevertheless we made fair progress during the first days, 
marching from eight to ten miles over the hilly ground, and we would surely 
have reached a far higher latitude if the permanent snow-storm blowing 
directly from the north had not proved an unconquerable obstacle. We 
were compelled, sometimes from two to three days, to lie in the tents, firmly 
incased and exposed to all hardships. Fortunately our tent was so well 
arranged that no storm could destroy it, and we were entirely secure in that 
respect, but the fine dust penetrated everywhere, and everything in the tent 
was covered by inches of snow. Part of the latter melted from the cooking 
in the tent and from the warmth of our bodies; our clothing and covers 
became wet, we shivered constantly, and sickness appeared unavoidable. 
Our strength grew less, notwithstanding that the sun came out for a few 
days; greater rations had to be allowed than estimated for, and snow had 
frequently to be used to quench the thirst. Good luck willed that at Hay¬ 
stack, which we reached on April 3, and which is not an island, as here¬ 
tofore supposed, but connected with the main, we shot a polar bear, which 
furnished fuel and some meat. 

22 


170 


In latitude 76° 24' N. we came to a region in which the snow lay 
remarkably loose, so that we had to wade through it sometimes to our knees ; 
the storm which everywhere else had made .the snow hard and firm had here 
apparently not touched it at all. With all exertion we could make but.two 
miles a day, keeping always the main to our left. Further on we soon 
learned the cause of this looseness of the snow. The coast of Greenland 
runs out here into a great bay open to the south, to the east of which a long 
tongue extends, with an island before it, toward the south ; the high land 
to the north had protected the bay from the storm, and thus the snow 
under the lee of the coast remained soft and high. To come out again from 
this bay we had to turn east, when we reached a small bight, which neces¬ 
sarily had to be our northernmost point. The great exertions of the last 
days, and the low temperature, still below —13°, had caused a rapid con¬ 
sumption of our provisions, while the storms had detained us so much. All. 
that could be done now was to ascend a few heights near the coasts, which 
would give us a clear view over the land and ice. A terrible snow-storm 
from the north raged again for the next three days without any interruption; 
we had to shorten the allowance of provisions; it was necessary, however, to 
ascend some of the heights, and before doing so we could not think of leav¬ 
ing. On Good Friday, (April 15,) at last, the weather cleared up, and we 
could start for the heights. After marching twelve miles north we came to a 
mountain of about 1,500 feet, which we ascended. It is situated in latitude 
77° OF N., and about longitude 18° 50' W. of Greenwich, and from it the 
coast extends due north nearly in a straight line. The view over the sea 
exhibited, as expected, an uninterrupted field of ice clear to the horizon, 
over which there was a white ice-sky; the ice was covered with immense 
humps, far greater than those to which we had been accustomed at Pendu¬ 
lum Island ; .along the coast, to about a distance of four miles, land ice 
extended, but that also was of older date, and had evidently been undisturbed 
for some years. The whole had the appearance of a bulwark built for eternity. 
As soon as Lieutenant Payer had finished his observations we hurriedly 
pushed for our tent, as we saw again sure signs of a new gale brewing, and 
we had just arrived when it broke on us with tremendous fury. 

Saturday, April 16, in the afternoon, we were able to start back for the 
ship. We now intended to travel at night, as we would then have the sun 
behind us, and could rest in the daytime more comfortably in the tent. 


171 


Forced marches were to be made, to reach the ship as quickly as possible, as 
a second sleigh-expedition, under command of Lieutenant Payer, for the 
exploration of the fiords, had yet to be undertaken before the thaw set in. 
Great exertions were made, but the fresh meat afforded good nutriment; the 
fat of the polar bears, which we secured, gave excellent fuel. The storms, if 
not too violent, contributed to speed our travel, pushing along the sleigh, to 
which we had added a sail. 

On the 27th of April we returned on board. Now, however, we found 
how much we had lost in strength, notwithstanding the good food. A dread¬ 
ful feebleness overcame every one, and nearly all suffered from violent cramps 
in the legs; but quiet and care on board restored all hands soon. 

The sleigh-expedition for the exploration of Ardencaple Inlet could 
start in the afternoon of May 8. Only two of the men who had accompanied 
• the first expedition, although not unfit for duty, were not strong enough for 
a distant foot-travel. 

Some minor sleigh-excursions, for geodetic operations, had been under¬ 
taken, during our absence, by the astronomers, and a part of the basis had 
been measured. The ship had assumed a different appearance, as the winter 
covers had been removed, &c. Violent gales, however, had also here retarded 
progress, and, in addition, the polar bears had, so to speak, laid siege to the 
ship and its vicinity, so that the utmost precaution had been necessary to avoid 
fatal accidents. A number of these animals had been shot; to drive them 
off was found impossible. 

These drawbacks were the cause that the geodetic expedition of the 
astronomers could not leave before the evening of May 14, quite late for the 
use of sleighs, as the thaw sets in very suddenly, and the snow then loosens 
and melts with surprising rapidity. This expedition had to contend against 
very great difficulties. Toward the end of May, even, they had to wade through 
water, and the glacier rivulets grew, in the beginning of June, so violent that 
it was very dangerous to cross them. The labors, however, were completed 
satisfactorily. On the return, the sleigh, with everything that could not be 
carried, by the crew, had to be left in latitude 75° N., in order to reach the 
ship by forced marches. 

Lieutenant Payer returned on the 29th of May. He had met with 
unexpected difficulties. The dreadful storms which, on the coast, had every¬ 
where hardened the snow, had raged across the fiords with the contrary 


172 


effect, depositing loose snow to such a depth that all sunk down into it to the 
waist, and the freight of the sleigh had to be carried piece by piece. In this 
manner only a distance of a few hundred paces could be traveled a day, with 
the utmost exertion. A view from the summit of a mountain showed that no 
better road could be hoped for, and therefore it was decided to return. The 
excursion, however, was not without valuable results; some hundred petri¬ 
factions and fossil plants were brought on board. 

The time for sleigh-excursions had now passed, but sufficient rest and 
recovery from the toils and exertions of the last months could not be thought 
of, and but a few days could be allotted for it. There were still small excursions 
required for the completion of the surveys and for botanical and zoological 
purposes; the ship was to be made ready for sea in all her parts, and 
much was to be done by the few available for it. Though the best testimony 
must be given to the crew, each of whom was eager in the work, much that 
was desirable had to be left undone, and it was impossible also to finish com¬ 
pletely all the scientific labors which had been initiated. 

The thawing process went on’speedily; the thickness of the ice, which 
had, in May, been 6 feet 7 inches, decreased soon some feet. To the east 
and south of us there was already much open water; the shore-ice broke oft' 
gradually on the edges. 

July 10, in the evening, the ice within the harbor in which we were 
still firmly embedded, began to move, and we drifted out of the harbor to the 
southeast. The saws were put in operation to cut a passage through the ice, 
which still was 3 feet in thickness. During the next afternoon a channel, 
sufficiently wide to pass through, had been sawed; we steamed with hurrahs 
out of our icy prison, but made again for the harbor, now nearly free from 
ice, where we arrived after a few hours. Some necessary labors were yet to 
be completed, and a boat expedition to the Esquimaux huts on Clavering 
Island to be made, before renewing our attempts to penetrate north. 

The boat expedition sailed July 14, in the afternoon. The coast was 
found entirely free of ice to Cape Borlace Warren; in Grale-Hamke’s Bay, 
however, it lay yet in parts firmly, but we were able to row to Cape Mary; 
the remaining four miles to the village visited by Clavering had to be made 
on foot, a very tiresome task. We found the village where it was placed on 
the chart, but the huts were long ago abandoned and decayed; two, probably 
the same which had been found inhabited by Clavering, were evidently of a 


more recent date than the others. We examined the huts as thoroughly as 
the bad, rainy weather would permit, and returned to the boat. The ice in 
the bay was now breaking and the water, close to the shore, in most places 
already free; many pieced, two years old, were floating about, a sure sign 
that the bay had not been entirely free in 1869. 

We arrived back on board in the morning of the 18th. The Germania 
was now ready for sea, and we steamed north in the morning of the 22d, 
coming-to again at Cape Philipp Broke, to reconnoiter first, from.the moun¬ 
tain, the state of the ice to the north. There was again a channel along the 
shore ice, which appeared to extend pretty far to the north. 

On the return to the ship an unfortunate circumstance was unexpectedly 
discovered, which finally exercised a commanding influence on the discoveries 
of the summer, and made an early withdrawal from the ice necessary. The 
tubes of the boiler began to leak, and it became evident that the latter would 
be unfit for use before long. Without steam, however, as our experience 
had sufficiently demonstrated, but little could be done on this coast, where 
calms prevail in the summer, during the short time in which navigation is 
practicable. The tubes were repaired as completely as possible, and we went on. 
Ascending through the narrow channel between the shore ice and the packed 
ice, we reached the parallel of latitude 75° 29' N., close to the northeast cap£ 
of Shannon Island. Here our progress was stopped by the same ice-barrier 
which we had found in this vicinity the last year. The heavy ice, here in 
general much higher than at the Pendulum Islands, joined the shore ice, 
and there were no signs whatever of its breaking soon. From a mountain of 
the island near the cape, about 500 feet in height, we saw to the north nothing 
but firm ice, and a strong refraction of the light disclosed the same state also to 
the east of the high land before us, (latitude 76° N.;) only on the south 
side of this laild a single narrow strip of water was visible. We remained 
for some days close to the shore ice, but were not able to perceive the 
slightest motion in it. In the meantime the wind had shifted to the south, 
and was setting into the bay so much drift ice that we were nearly incased 
again; and during calms-much young ice formed. We, therefore, had to 
retreat, and it was unanimously concluded to abandon all further attempts to 
penetrate north, as in order to do so we should have to break through to 
latitude 77° N. without making any new discoveries, and the boiler might 
give out entirely, which would, in all probability, have left the ship help- 


174 


lessly embayed. On the 30th of July we steamed south in a thick fog, feel¬ 
ing our way along the shore ice, and now and then breaking through a chain 
of drift ice. 

On the 3d of August we came to anchor sotfth of Cape Broer Buys, 
intending to explore that coast, as the ice still lay firmly to the southward 
and westward, and on the 6th a boat-expedition was made to examine Mack¬ 
enzie Inlet which, however, was found not to exist; a level valley had evi¬ 
dently been mistaken for an inlet, and what is shown as Bennett Island on 
the chart connects with the main-shore. There were numerous reindeer 
in the valley, so little shy that five were killed in a short time. From the 
summit of a mountain a considerable* number of swimming icebergs were 
seen to the south and the west of Bennett, which apparently were coming 
from a great fiord. We therefore went next day in the boat in that direc¬ 
tion, but after rounding Bennett, and on arriving at Cape Franklin, the shore 
ice was also there found to lie firmly, barring our progress in the boat. 
From the summit of a mount we saw the fiord which we had expected to 
find there, and it seemed entirely free of ice; we concluded on the next 
morning to draw the boat over the intervening field, but the latter broke 
during the night and began to move to the east. Lieutenant Payer and Dr. 
Copeland ascended another mountain about 4,000 feet high, from which they 
saw that the fiord was far too extensive for an exploration merely in the 
boat, and that we would have to bring the ship in, there being no impedi 
ment after pushing through the drifting ice. We immediately returned to 
the ship and started steam; the boiler had been mended again, so that forty 
pounds could be carried. The shore ice was broken through without any 
difficulty, and we then steamed between the icebergs. The further we pene¬ 
trated the milder became the temperature, and the warmer grew the water; 
the scenery was grand, truly Alpine. An unknown country, the real interior 
of Greenland, more and more beautiful and imposing, opened to our astonished 
eyes. Numerous glaciers, cascades, and torrents came down from the mount¬ 
ains, which ascended higher aud higher. Further to the north an immense 
glacier was discovered, surely the source of many'icebergs; in steaming to 
the west and southwest more numerous branches of the fiord opened; no 
end was to be seen of it. But, unfortunately, the boiler again broke down 
after twenty-four hours’ service, and we were compelled to come-to under a 
glacier of about 1,000 feet in height. Immediately all necessary labors were 


175 


set on foot for the exploration; triangulations were carried out, mountains 
measured, and the entire country surrounding us carefully mapped. Mount¬ 
ains in the interior, in about longitude 32° W., were ascertained to be as 
high as 14,000 feet. From a glacier nearer to the coast, the summit of 
which, 7,000 feet in height, which was ascended by Lieutenant Paygr, Dr. 

• Copeland and Peter Ellinger, the branching of the fiord was seen to extend 
everywhere apparently limitless. 

# In the meanwhile the boiler had again been patched as well as it could be 
done; it was, however, evident that in a short time we would have to shift 
entirely without steam power. On this account, and as the season was well 
advanced, it would have been imprudent to push the ship deeper into the fiord; 
for, if the boiler failed again, say seventy miles inside of it, the sails would 
hardly have brought us out in time, as calms prevail there during the sum¬ 
mer, and we would have probably been compelled to stay a second winter; 
the return home was therefore determined on. 

We anchored for the last time at Cape Broer Ruys, and saw from its 
summit that the packed ice, although nearer the coast, was still loose enough 
to allow a passage. We steamed, though in a thick fog, without difficulty 
between the field ice until the 16 th, when we met thick ice, through which 
we had to break, but this was the last effort of the boiler; the water poured 
in streams out of the tubes, and steam had to be blown off quickly; we had, 
however, reached more open water. 

The other part of the home voyage v/as made under sail. We had, 
between the ice, one more heavy storm, in which the ship proved again her 
strength and solidity. There were but few more dangers, and, on the even¬ 
ing of August 24, we reached the open sea, in latitude 72° N., longitude 14° W. 

In the next days, during calms, some deep-sea soundings were made to 
1,300 fathoms. It was our intention to pass between Iceland and the Faroe 
Islands on. one side, and the Shetland Islands on the other, in order to make 
there more extensive deep-sea soundings and temperature observations, but 
the prevalence of violent gales prevented the former and limited the latter; 
some of these, however, show very interesting results. 

Near Helgoland we sent up rockets for a pilot, in vain. We could not 
understand for what cause other ships, the nationality of which we could not 
make out, answered by rockets. On the morning of September 11 Langeroge 
came in sight, but off Wangeroge we could not discover the barrel buoy, the 


176 


extreme mark for the entrance of the Weser; the light-ship also was not 
there, nor the Wangeroge spar buoys. We could not find any explanation for 
all this, and made for a large ship, the masts of which we saw in the outer 
Jahde. Coming nearer in we found that we had a fleet of war vessels before 
us, ‘buj; we could not yet make out the flag. A shot brought us to; officers 
of our navy came on board, and we learned, to our greatest astonishment and # 
joy, the grand events of the last months. 

We obtained tug-boats and pilots for the Weser, and in the evening^of 
the same day we anchored again at Bremerhaven which we had left four 
hundred and fifty-three days before. 

The ship, built by J. C. Tecklenborg, in Bremerhaven, has, during the 
entire cruise, proved excellent in all respects, and especially well fitted for 
Arctic navigation. Her small size was favorable for quick and easy maneuver¬ 
ing in the ice, and, consequently, for a speedy progress before the openings 
made could close again. Her small draught permitted us to keep close under 
the land, and thus to be better protected against the heavy ice than a larger 
ship would have been. On the bow she had been strengthened so much that 
the most violent knocks of the ice, even when at a speed of five or six knots, 
had no effect at all. Her sharp build prevented all pressure which might 
have endangered the joints, as she could lift herself readily. The steam power 
proved, contrary to all expectations, sufficient; with’ a pressure of forty 
pounds four and one-half miles per hour could’ readily be made in quiet water. 
All the experience of the cruise demonstrates that, at least on the Greenland 
coast, the employment of larger vessels for expeditions of discovery and explor¬ 
ation would be dangerous. Improvements might, however, be made, for the 
purpose of still greater safety. 

The following is added from the preliminary reports of the scientific 
members of the expedition: # 

Doctors Borgen and Copeland have made, throughout the cruise, a con¬ 
nected series of areometric observations, which have given very interesting 
results, especially in the ice. The surface water in the bays, as also at greater 
distances from the shore, was found, in the summer of 1870, to be of extraor¬ 
dinarily small density, on account of the great quantity of fresh water which 
emptied into the sea from glaciers; below the surface, on the contrary, the 
water proved to be considerably denser, changing, in lesser depths, pretty 
suddenly, but then increasing the density gradually. With the aid of these 


177 


observations examinations will be made in regard to the dependency of 
the density from the temperature, and to the temperature of the sea water at 
its maximum density. 

Astronomical observations were, for the most part, limited to the deter¬ 
mination of geographical positions, made at all points where a landing was 
effected. The position of the winter harbor was fixed by a great number of 
observed altitudes of stars and of the sun, and, besides, by the observation of 
the eclipse of the sun of August 7,1869, of moon culminations, of occupations 
of stars and of the satellites of Jupiter. The preliminary computation resulted 
in latitude 74° 32' 20 // N., longitude l h 15 m 15 s = 18° 49' W. of Greenwich, 
very nearly coinciding with the results of the observations of General Sabine 
at the same place forty-seven years before ours. The final establishment of 
the longitude requires yet a comparison with corresponding observations at 
the various observatories. 

Throughout the winter stay meteorological observations were made, with 
two barometers and at least three thermometers. From October to May 
these were read every hour; before and after that time, every second hour. 
The mean annual temperature of the winter harbor was found to be 11°.7, 
the coldest temperature observed being —40°.5. During the winter, espe¬ 
cially in April, storms from the north were prevailing of a force unknown in 
Europe. An anemometer of Robinson, though constructed so as to measure 
the strength of the strongest winds in Europe, was blown to pieces by one of 
these storms which showed a speed of more than sixty-seven miles per hour. 
In the violent puffs of wind the mercury in a marine barometer of Fortin’s 
construction fell several millimeters, (down to 5.) 

After the observatories had been built and some difficulties overcome, a 
series of magnetic observations was made. From December 21, 1869, twenty- 
four hours were devoted every two weeks for the observation of the oscillations 
of the magnetic declination, which were referred to the preceding and the 
subsequent absolute determinations of the declination. In these observations, 
as also in the meteorological, Doctors Borgen and Copeland were assisted by 
the commander of the expedition, by officers Sengstake and Tramnitz, and 
by Peter Ellinger, seaman. An induction inclinatorium was employed for the 
first time in the Arctic regions; it has proved, as had been expected, the most 
appropriate instrument for the establishment of this constant. The magnetic 
23 


178 


intensity was ascertained, in the summer of 1870, by several careful observa 
tions. The preliminary values for the winter harbor are: declination 45° W.; 
inclination 79° 50'. Besides these, the magnetic constants were ascertained 
at many other places by smaller portable instruments. 

On the 11th of September the first aurora borealis was seen, and since 
that time this phenomenon was the subject of various observations which, 
unfortunately, were much interfered with by the gales of the winter. It gen¬ 
erally began with a bright arc which formed in the southeastern quarter of 
the heavens, in various altitudes above the horizon. From this arc rays and 
irregular spiral streaks of light extended generally all around, converging near 
the zenith; the exact point of convergency was well determined in several 
instances. As was expected, its altitude above J;he horizon was found to be 
exactly equal with the magnetic inclination, and its azimuth equal to the 
declination. 

Greater oscillations of the magnetic needle, in conjunction with the aurora 
borealis, were observed only once; when, for a second time, the oscillations 
were very great, (amounting to several degrees,) the sky was unfortunately 
obscured. Frequently, however, the needle remained very quiet when there 
was a very bright aurora. 

In the spectroscope a bright line of greenish-yellow color showed, the 
position of which, with reference to the natrium line D, was ascertained after 
repeated failures; it lies between b and D, distant from the former about one- 
third of the distance between both. More accurate data cannot be given for 
the present, as Kirchhoff’s solar spectrum is not at hand. On the home voy¬ 
age we had occasion to observe, iq the vicinity of the Shetland Islands, an 
aurora which completely coincided with those observed on Sabine Island, and 
showed a very sharply defined point of convergency. 

One of our problems was a reconnoissance for the measurement of a 
degree of the meridian, which it is proposed to carry out at a future time. 
With prominent authorities we believed that we could not solve this better 
than by a possibly accurate triangulation, by which good information could be 
obtained in regard to the topography, signals, atmospheric relations, &c. 
Preparations for this were made throughout the spring, and the triangulation 
carried out in May, June, and July. The unfavorable state of snow permitted 
the measurement of only a small arc of forty minutes, and only at sixteen 
stations of the seventeen selected, for the same cause, could the angles be 


179 


measured. We have, however, become fully convinced that no serious obsta¬ 
cles will be found in the final measurement, especially as the weather in 
summer is favorable and the air is always very transparent, and, with a cov¬ 
ered sky and during the night, very quiet. 

When in the fiords we were able to ascertain, in a short time, a daily 
forward movement of a glacier amounting to five inches, with the probable 
* error of hardly one inch. 

Photographs were obtained in considerable numbers. 

Lieutenant Payer conducted the geographical labors: a trigonometrical 
triangulation with the theodolite along the east coast of Greenland and over 
tlie islands olf, and the fiords within it, on a basis measured on Sabine 
Island; the triangle points were marked by pyramids of stone. Hypsometric 
measurements were done with the theodolite, and with mercury and aneroid 
barometers; and the summits of many mountains were ascended for the 
purpose. The chart will also show in detail great mountain ranges in the 
interior, with their glaciers. Close to the coast weye only the beginnings 
of glaciers, mostly created by local agencies, (drift-winds, &c.;) the interior, 
on the contrary, contains a grand glacier development. The largest observed 
had a longitudinal axis of sixteen to twenty-four nautical miles; of the largest 
of all the glaciers of northeastern Greenland we saw only the precipitated 
mass. The greatest glacier walked over by members of the expedition 
measured twelve miles in its longitudinal axis. 

The snow line, so called, is as little perceptible in Greenland as on the 
Alps; there is only a demarkation line of glaciers. In conformity with 
Alpine experience the Greenland glaciers also show an enormous decrease. 

The highest mountain measured was found to be 14,000 feet high, and 
lies at a distance from the east coast of a third of the width of Greenland; it 
is probable, however, that higher mountains exist. 

Lieutenant Payer advances the opinion that Greenland probably is a 
complex of islands, which, separated by fiords and immense sounds, are of 
very different size. 

The geological formation of East Greenland is preponderingly crystal¬ 
line; there are, especially, syenits resembling gneiss, frequently with lodes of 
basalt. On the coast brown-coal formations were met with not unfrequently. 
The geological collection is considerable, especially in petrifactions and fossil 
plants. 


180 


The labors of Dr. Pansch were those of the surgeon and naturalist; 
happily he had not much to do in the former capacity. We all have returned 
well; the members of the expedition have all proved strong enough for the 
exertions which were required of them. All the arrangements and the sup¬ 
plies (as provisions, clothing, heating, and airing apparatus) were found to 
answer admirably. There was no sickness at all except two wounded, and 
the winter stay has not affected the health of any one. It must be stated, 
however, in this connection that hunting has furnished about 5,000 pounds 
of fresh meat. 

The scientific results in botany, zoology, and ethnology during the stay 
on the coast, considering the many obstacles and difficulties, must be called 
satisfactory. As the expedition remained there the four seasons, the entire 
vegetable and animal life can be reviewed. The vegetation was found 
to be very diversified according to the locality; in one place waste an poor; 
in the other luxuriant and manifold. We saw meadows, and we found 
butterflies; mosquitoes were at times so numerous as to be very annoying. 
Very many herds of reindeer were seen, some numbering fifty head; it is 
especially remarkable, and was not expected, that we met the musk-ox, not 
only singly, but sometimes sixteen head together. Among other animals the 
lemmings and ermine must be named. Walrus were also found in schools, 
but whales were not seen on the east coast; fish, however, were found on 
the coast as well as in the inland waters and salt-water lakes. Birds were 
fewer than we expected; grouse, gulls, ducks, divers, crows, and various 
singing birds hatch there. The lower order of animals is rich and interest¬ 
ing. We did not meet with Esquimaux, and saw no fresh traces of them; 
but the marks of old settlements were found nearly at each point visited. 
The huts of the Esquimaux village, described by Clavering, were much 
decayed; they had probably been abandoned soon after his time, that is, 
forty years ago. A dozen well-preserved skulls from Esquimaux graves were 
brought home. The utensils found at various places—as for instance slides of 
very large sleighs, dog skulls, kajak oars—indicate that the people who have 
lived here, compared with other Esquimaux, were by no means of the lowest 
order of culture. 


181 


2.—THE CRUISE ANI) LOSS OF THE SAILING YACHT HANS A. 

[FROM A PRELIMINARY REPORT BY THE BREMEN -COMMITTEE.] 

After tlie Hansa had, for the last time, lost sight of the Germania, on 
July 20, 1869, she was steered north, in order to penetrate between latitudes 
74° and 75° through the ice for Greenland. She succeeded in approach¬ 
ing the coast on the 24tli of August to within twenty-four miles, and a boat 
went about eight miles nearer, -but all attempts to reach the coast were in 
Tain, and on the 19th of September, in latitude 73° 06' N., and longitude 
19° 18' W., the ship was completely frozen in. In the ship’s journal the 
following is now recorded: 

In this situation we remained for several weeks. On the morning of 
the 19th of October, during a thick snow-drift, and with a strong wind from 
the northwest, which soon grew into a storm, the ice in our immediate 
vicinity began to push; it tore away a part of the field by which we were 
incased and thus far protected, and placed us in great danger. 

At times there were lulls in the roaring of the grinding ice; we then 
only could see how the ice rolled about and large pieces of our field broke off 
and drifted away. Shortly after noon of the same day the masses pushed 
upon us, which already had attained a considerable height, had broken the 
young ice, of about four feet in thickness, on the starboard side of the vessel, 
and drove it hard against her. The ship lifte.d herself somewhat forward, 
but as she could not do so sufficiently, on account of the high ice blocks, she 
had to suffer the full power of the pressure. Shortly before 1 o’clock the 
seams of the deck amid ships sprung, but the hull appeared to be still tight.. 
A short pause succeeded this strong pressure which then began anew with 
increased force. The Hansa lifted herself first slowly, but then rapidly until 
she had risen 14 feet and was entirely on the ice, when the pressure relaxed 
and the ice before her gave way so that in an hour the ship leaning over to 
starboard could slide into the now open water; she remained, however, over 
a tongue of ice in an inclined position. 

The pumps were now sounded, showed 11 inches, and immediately 
after 12 inches of water in the hold; they were worked until 7 o’clock 
p. m., when a little rest was taken to eat; 10 minutes after that there were 
30 inches in the hold. The storm and snow drift ceased toward 9 


182 


o’clock, the sky cleared, and it grew severely cold, the thermometer showing 
—13°. The water from the pumps accumulated between the provisions 
which on the previous day had been placed on the quarter deck; part of it 
run off through the cabin hatch back into the hold, but a considerable part 
froze on the deck, blocking the scuppers so that it became necessary to break 
through the bulwark; this, however, was of small avail as the ice grew 
thicker. 

On the 20th, at 4 p. m., after having worked the pumps throughout the 
night, with difficulty on account of the ice, and not being able to discover the 
leak, we gave the ship up. Water was already pouring into the cabin from 
below. The ship had apparently broken her back, and was leaking through 
all her seams. 

Everything necessary for our support on the ice was saved, but not all 
the provisions. Such things as collections, &c., could not be thought of. 
We attempted also to hold the ship fast by means of hawsers and ice anchors. 
On the 22d the masts were cut, and the greater part of the cordage put away. 
On the evening of the same day we had, however, to cut the hawsers, 
and ice anchors in order to prevent the breaking of the ice on which our 
goods were stowed. 

* On the 23d of October, at 2 a. m., the ship sunk; the largest boat, 
which had been standing free on the deck, remained on the surface; the two 
other boats had before been placed in safety on the ice. The approximate 
position in which the ship sunk is latitude 70° 50' N., longitude 21° 00' W., 
hardly four miles from Liverpool coast, the precipices and mountains of 
which, resembling remarkably the Lime Alps near Munich, were plainly in 
sight; Holloway Bay and Glasgow Island were also distinguishable, but no 
passage could be discovered through the labyrinth of ice. 

The sinking of the ship concludes the first part of our Arctic voyage, 
(from June 15 to October 19, 1869, one hundred and twenty-seven days.) 
On the 20th of October the ship’s company, consisting of fourteen men, 
stood, with the few saved goods, helpless in a wide ice-desert. But they did 
not despair; they knew that the ice would drift south and carry them, in 
about three-quarters of a year, to regions where a rescue was possible. And 
indeed, on the 13tli of June, 1870, all hands were saved, two hundred and 
thirty-seven days after the loss of the ship. This- ice-voyage along the coast 
of East Greenland is an incident which will long be remembered. ' 


183 


On the 20th of October the wrecked people rested their weary limbs, 
for the first time, in the floating lmt built of coal, in which they were to 
live for eighty-seven days by the light of a petroleum lamp. The hut was 
standing on a great ice field, seven miles in circumference, and had been 
erected at the end of September to place the provisions in safety; it was 
comparatively small; 20 feet long, 14 feet broad, and of a height of 4J 
feet at the walls, and 6 feet in the middle of the roof which was constructed 
of spars and planks. Provisions and clothing were saved in sufficient quan¬ 
tity, as also the cooking stove; the masts and other parts of the ship saved 
furnished fuel; but nearly all the scientific instruments, and the collection of 
skins, drawings, and photographs were lost. Of what use would these things 
have been in the small hut, which had only a passage of 2i feet for standing 
and walking? How could they have been taken afterward into the boats, 
where each square inch, each pound of weight counted? 

The life in the house, as regards regularity, watches, and division of 
labor was similar to that on board the ship, and the sleeping places were like 
the bunks of the ship. Close to the house was a high pole, with the black, 
white and red flag which, a true symbol of home, withstood all the hard¬ 
ships, and was finally handed back again to the committee. The cold was, 
in the average, not more severe than —17°.5; a few times the thermometer 
fell to —24° ; once', for a short time, to —26°.5; the heavy fur coats were 
only used as covers for the night. The coast was discernible nearly always 
in clear weather. Polar bears and white foxes visited the hermits now and 
then. Who can know whence they came and what wanderings they had 
accomplished, the former swimming, the latter jumping from field to field? 
They might have come from the shore, but men would surely have been lost 
had they attempted to go there in the same manner; perhaps it might have 
been possible with the utmost exertions, but the provisions, and the boats 
must have been left behind. 

The drift to the south continued uninterruptedly. At the end of 
December the parallel of latitude 68° was reached. Nearly 3° south of the 
place of the wreck, Christmas was celebrated. In regard to that, we read in 
one of the diaries as follows: 

“On Christmas-day we had rain. While in the afternoon we took a 
walk, the mates raised the Christmas tree, fitting into a broom-staff corn 
bushes to resemble pine tree limbs. For candles I had saved a wax taper. 


184 


Paper chains and home-made honey cakes were the ornaments of the tree; 
the crew had worked for the captain a knapsack and a revolver case. We 
opened the two tin boxes presented to us for the occasion by Professor 
Hochstetter, and by the Geological Institute, and divided the gifts by lottery. 
In enjoying a bottle of port we perused the old newspapers in which the 
gifts had been wrapped. In this manner the holy day passed; I forbear to 
write down the thoughts which come to my mind; they were the same with 
all. If this Christmas is the last which we live, it is still a happy one; but 
should we return, the next will be the happier. May God will it!” 

New Year broughtmo friendly welcome; the greatest dangers occurred 
in January, 1870. On the 2d of January the ice voyagers were in latitude 
67° 47' N., longitude 34° OP W., close under the coast, in a bay which they 
called “ Bay of Horrors.” Of that day one of the diaries records : “ A sudden 
strong rumbling of our field drove all hands from their couches; we had no 
idea what this could be, as outside a heavy storm was blowing; had it been 
clear we would have been in still greater anxiety. Although the door hole 
was stopped up by snow—in fact, the entire hut was covered more than a foot 
by the ice—all rushed out, but in the darkness no one could see anything 
more distant than ten paces, and nothing could be heard except the fury of 
the storm. Laying down flat, the ear to the ice, we could hear a noise 
like the singing of the ice when it is pressed hard, or the’grinding of it when 
passing over rocks; there was no doubt that we were in the greatest danger. 
We laid down again on our couches, dressed, waiting anxiously for daylight. 
The weather grew worse. About 10 o’clock in the forenoon, when the wind 
and the snow drift had abated in some degree, some of us walked through the 
deep snow toward the part of the ice near which the Hansa had gone down; 
but two hundred paces from the house we saw, to our horror, great masses of 
ice piled over each other, the limit of our field of ice. The latter was broken 
up as far as we could see—dark objects which could be recognized through 
the thick snow-drift as the remains of the field; it was broken evidently into 
many parts, of which that on which the hut stood appeared to be the largest, 
but might also be broken up at any moment. We filled our knapsacks, so as 
to hold out as long as possible in case of a sudden flight which, however, 
would have left little hope, as, in such a snow-drift, one sinks at each pace 
into it up to the armpits, and perhaps into the very jaws of destruction.” 

Similar scenes occurred on the same day repeatedly, but the worst night 


185 


was that from January 11th to 12tli, when there was the greatest danger of losing 
the boats. The company divided into two parties, each standing by one of the 
boats; the largest boat was given up. Ice-crusts formed in this dreadful weather 
over the face, and had to be removed by the knife if one wanted to eat; the snow 
penetrated through all the clothing, the limbs of some of the men froze, and 
the diaries could not be kept for some time on account of the frozen hands. 
“Only by a miracle we were saved,” says the commander in his diary. 

On the 14th of January the field was broken up so far that the house had to 
be abandoned; for five days the men had to camp during the night in the boats 
which were provided with covers. On the 19th of January a new hut was fin¬ 
ished, built of the remains of the old one, snow being used for mortar; but it was 
only 14 feet long by 8 feet in width, and only six persons could sleep in it, while 
the others had to seek rest in the small cooking house and in the boats. Thus 
they lived for one hundred and eight days—to the 7th of May. The once large 
field was then but a piece of drift ice; when the people left it, its circumference 
was hardly two hundred paces; its small size was, however, an advantage in 
the region of swimming icebergs, the pieces winding their way frequently 
between these colossi as if steered by an invisible hand. 

On the 7th of May these intrepid men left the piece of ice which had borne 
them for two hundred days. They were now in latitude 61° 12' N., longitude 
42° W. The south coast of Greenland, with its strong tides which must have 
become dangerous to that little piece of ice, and Cape Farewell, with its gales, 
could not now be far off; the provisions began to fail, and open water ap¬ 
peared toward the coast. The three boats, which had always been kept ready, 
were brought, within four hours, into navigable water. Captain Hegemann took 
the Hope, Mate Hildebrandt the Bismarck, and Mate Bade the King William. 
With three hurrahs the cruise was commenced, but after two days, when the 
boats had approached the coast to within three miles, they met an impenetrable 
ice barrier. It was concluded to draw them over the ice, which brought again 
camping on the ice. This lasted twenty-five days, from the 11th of May to the 
4th of June, during which period, of herculean exertions, only half-rations could 
be served; the boats could be moved only five hundred paces a day; the 
meals had to be warmed on alcohol lamps; snow-blindness broke out, and the 
shade glasses of the instruments had to be used instead of the snow-goggles, 
which had been lost. At last, June 4th, Idluitik, a small rocky island, in lati¬ 
tude 61° N., was reached, and Sunday was celebrated there on the ice. From 
24 


186 


the 6th to the 13th the three boats sailed down the coast, along the preci¬ 
pices which commenced to show signs of vegetation; there were again obstacles 
and violent gales, which were weathered. On the 13th a broad bay opened, red 
houses were seen, and then people,looking in astonishment on the strange voyage; 
a kajak hurried past, hugging the coast. “There is our German flag” sounded 
from the land over the water. Rescue was at hand at last! The first fellow- 
beings who shook the hands of the wrecked were German countrymen. The 
missionaries of Fredericksthal, Messrs. Starik and Gerike, received them kindly, 
and nursed them until the 16th. The tale of the unheard-of ice voyage spread 
rapidly among the Esquimaux, and all came to congratulate the adventurers. 

On the 16th of June, the anniversary of the expedition, the rescued learned 
that they could soon start home, as the Royal Danish brig Constance, Captain 
Bang, would sail within a short time from Julianshaab, which, however, first 
had to be reached. On the 16th the boats sailed to Nennortalik; on the 
17tli to Lichtenau. From the last place a messenger was sent to Julianshaab, 
but alas! he found the ship gone; luckily she had to return on account of the 
thickness of the ice, and Captain Bang, a native of Schleswig, invited his country¬ 
men most kindly on board. “On the 22d of June we left the boats of the Hansa, 
which had served us so faithfully. On the 1st of September we landed at Co¬ 
penhagen, and were astonished to learn from the pilot the tidings of the great 
war and the sublime victories.” Thus the diary of Captain Hegemann closes. 

The company on board the Hansa, who all reached home in good health, 
were Captain F. A. Hegemann; Dr. phil G. Laube, Professor in the Univer¬ 
sity and Polytechnical School of Vienna; R. W. Buchholz, M. D., professor 
at the University of Greifswalde; first officer, R. Hildebrandt; second officer, 
W. Bade; carpenter, W. Bowe; and the seamen Wiibkes, Heyne, Kewell, 
Gat gen, Schmidt, Tilly, Buttner, and Gierke. 

Captain Hegemann praises the crew highly. Insubordination was un¬ 
known ; all orders were cheerfully executed, even under the most difficult 
circumstances; there hardly occurred a single harsh word. 

The adventures of the intrepid voyagers, and the results of this remark¬ 
able expedition, are so manifold that the latter cannot be called meager. It 
has failed to be an expedition of discovery, but considerable geographical data 
were obtained, and much of scientific value, especially in meteorology and for 
the knowledge of currents. The expedition is a piece of German sea life, 
from which the greatest credit accrues to the German seamen. 


B. 


MINOR EXPEDITIONS IN 1 870. 


Besides the German national expedition, an account of which has been 
sketched on the preceding pages, there were in the Arctic region, during the 
summer of 1870, a Swedish scientific expedition, and some private parties, 
the latter mainly for hunting or pleasure, but with the intention, also, of col¬ 
lecting geographical and physical data. The following are abstracts from the 
preliminary accounts of these, published in “Justus Perthes Geographische 
Mittheilungen” of September, November, and December, 1870: 

I. THE SWEDISH EXPEDITION. 


The Swedish Geographical Society, intending to send to the polar 
regions, in 1871, an expedition of greater dimensions, with the intention of 
wintering in West‘Greenland, directed Professor A. E. Nordenskiold, who 
had been intrusted with previous expeditions, to go there in order to prepare 
for it. Accompanied by Dr. Berggren, of Lund; Dr. phil. Nordstrom, of 
Stockholm; and Student Oberg, of Upsala, he left Copenhagen May 16th, 
and,arrived at Godhavn July 2nd. The only notice thus far received from the 
party is dated from Christianshaab, (latitude 69° N.,) July 29th, 1870; it is 
mainly an account of an attempt to push, as tar as possible, over the inland 
ice, which reaches to the innermost shores of the Auleitsivik Fiord, previously 
attempted with little success by Dalager in 1759, and again by Whymper in 
1867. They were able, with the greatest difficulty, to penetrate, as they 
estimated, 30 to 40 miles, to an elevation of above 2,000 feet above the level of 
the sea, where they could see before them the same unbroken field of ice for 
about the same distance without termination. The temperature rose in the 
day to 79°, but at night the water froze. 

The expedition was expected to return at the end of November. 



188 


II. THE EXPLOEATIONS OF VOX HEUGLIN AND COUNT ZEIL IN AND 
NEAE EAST SPITZBEEGEN. 

The cruise of Theodore von Heuglin, the ornithologist and explorer in 
Northern and Central Africa, and Count Waldburg-Zeil-Trauchburg, though 
undertaken for pleasure, has added very important data to the knowledge of 
the north. Mr. von Heuglin, before starting, had communicated with Dr. 
Petermann, and has forwarded to him accounts of his observations as often as 
an opportunity offered. 

They left Hamburg in a steam packet June 4th, well provided with good 
surveying and meteorological instruments, and began immediately to make 
regular observations of the temperature of sea and air, (four times daily,) and 
to collect specimens of the water for analysis. In Tromso they hired a small 
schooner, had her strengthened, and sailed, July 3rd, for the Thousand Islands. 

On the 10th of July they passed Bear Island, but were prevented by the 
fog from seeing it. On the 12th, about fifteen miles south of the parallel of 
the South Cape of Spitzbergen, but considerably to the east of it, they came 
up with the drift-ice, which compelled them to turn to the west and make 
for the South Cape. The temperature of the air near the ice was 37°.6, and 
that of the water 30°.9. 

On the 15th the South Cape was passed to the west, and on the 17th 
the vessel came to anchor in a small bay north of Horn Sound, where she 
remained, for want of wind, until the 27th. It proved quite difficult to 
weather the South Cape and to land on the eastern coast. On the 9th the 
vessel came-to under Cape Lee, from where Walter Thy men’s Fiord was 
visited in a boat, and thoroughly surveyed, as it was found to be laid down 
grossly incorrect on the charts. There was also a fair chance to cut in by 
angles a cape of Gillis Land, or an island adjacent to it, in latitude 78° 52' 
N., longitude 25° E. of Greenwich, northeast, east, and southeast of which 
many snow-covered mountains were clearly seen, from which the size of Gril¬ 
lis Land may be estimated equal to that of Spitzbergen. The sea east of 
Spitzbergen proved full of large flakes of drift-ice. Mr. Heuglin believes, 
however, that a steamer might readily have pushed through it. 

Next, Helis Sound was visited, and many points on its shores astronom¬ 
ically determined. A current was observed there of six miles per hour. 
From there the vessel turned back again for the Thousand Islands, but the 


189 


cold weather now setting in caused ice to form rapidly, and a succession of 
gales prevented further surveying, except some in Deevie Bay. After a short 
visit to Bell Sound the vessel was steered back for the coast of Norway, 
arriving at Hammerfest on the 26th of September. Violent gales were expe¬ 
rienced during 26 of the last 29 days. 

The observations on the return passage showed, around Bear Island, the 
same* considerable decrease of the temperature of the sea, as well as of the 
air, which had been noticed on the passage north, and by previous expedi¬ 
tions. The temperature of the sea on September 17th, off Bell Sound, was 
34°.7; the next day, more ta the south, 42°.6; and 50 miles S. by W. from 
the South Cape 39° to 41°; it then rose on the 21st to 43°.2, and on the 
22d to 43°.9 and 44°.8. Eight miles west of Bear Island the temperature 
of the . sea was observed to be but 35°.6, (that of the air being 36°.3,) it 
then rose again, toward the North Cape, rapidly to 39°.4, 41°.0, 41°.9 to 
46°.0. 

A change in the color of the sea (indicative respectively of the Gulf 
Stream and the Polar Stream) was not observed on either passage. The 
water appeared, under a favorable sky, always dark blue, with the exception 
only of shoal places, for instance in Walter Thymen’s Fiord and some parts of 
Stor Fiord, where the water had a decided green color. The Eastern Arctic 
Sea was found to be dark blue, although it is surely polar water. The prin¬ 
cipal stream is, however, said to set along the east coast of Stans-Foreland to 
the north. A discoloration of the water sometimes takes place by the melt¬ 
ing of the drift ice, when innumerable sea-nettle congregate there, resembling 
a submarine snow drift. The great blocks of ice coming from the northeast, 
and frequently of a depth of fifteen to twenty fathoms below the surface of 
the sea, are mostly of a gay beryl-green color. 

‘ Tides were only found close in shore. The rise and fall on the east 
coast, in general, was three feet; in Stor Fiord, however, it was four feet; 
causing the violent current in Helis Sound, and in the Walter Thymen’s Strait. 

That there are currents in different directions at the different depths, 
especially in Stor Fiord and in Walter Thymen’s Strait, is shown by the greater 
icebergs swimming frequently with great velocity in a direction directly oppo¬ 
site to that of the smaller fields and flakes, even against the wind and the 
tide. 


190 


Great attention was devoted to the drift-wood. The most was encoun¬ 
tered on the shores of Walter Thymen’s Fiord, and on the east coast of Stans- 
Foreland, the greater part larch-fir, frequently logs of fifty feet and more in 
length, mostly with the roots, less frequently with branches, but always 
without bark. There were some close to the high-water mark apparently 
but lately deposited; the older, decayed, lay on terraces which had been 
lifted evidently at different* epochs, as they were sharply defined against each 
other. There were also some in the alluvium, between rubble and ddbris, 
some feet beneath the present surface, as could be seen in the deep ravines 
cut by the ice rivulets. Besides the logs of the larch-fir there were pieces of 
bark of the same tree, also pine and birch bark, the latter in thick rolls, 
and a wood which Mr. Heuglin thought to be jhniperus. The bark, as well 
as the logs, showed frequently bore-holes by caterpillars of apparently two 
species. On the Thousand Islands the drift-wood is rare; more of it was 
found in the Stor Fiord, and even some in Ginevra Bay. 

All the parts visited were examined geologically, and a rich collection 
was brought home of the various minerals, petrifactions, &c. The magnet 
permeating the prevailing liyperite affects everywhere the compass needle, 
and was evidently the cause of the great declination reported by Koldewey 
at Cape Torrell. Considerable coal was found on the southeast coast of 
Stans-F oreland. 

Mr. Heuglin believes that Gillis Land may be reached more readily from 
the south; best perhaps in a boat, or in a small but strong steamer, provided at 
the bow with a circular ice saw. 

The expenses of the two gentlemen who have done so well, were, after 
deducting their share in the profits of the chase, only about 1,200 Prussian 
thalers, ($800.) 

III. THE CRUISE OF SHIPMASTER E. ULYE. 

The Norwegian, E. Ulve, while chasing in the waters of Nova Zembla 
from April to August, 1870, made regular observations of the temperature of 
water and air, and of the barometer, and forwarded the record by Mr. von 
Heuglin to Dr. Petermann. 

lie found in Matotschkin-Shar (Matthew. Straits) a temperature of 41°, 
and a still higher in the Kara Sea. Mr. von Heuglin attributes the cause of 
this high temperature there, as also of the complete and quick melting of the 


191 


vast masses of drift ice of which the Kara Sea is replete in spring, and also 
the cause of the shoals and shallow places extending far to the north, to the 
fact that that sea is in many respects but the extended mouth of a river. 

It is remarkable that the same glass balls and fishing buoys, of which 
Admiral Irminger speaks in the memoir appended to Dr. Petermamf s paper, 
(page 93 of this volume,) as found on the Iceland and East Greenland coasts, 
were also found by Ulve and by Johannesen on the northwest coast of Nova 
Zembla. One of the buoys had a Norwegian inscription; in all probability 
they have drifted there from the Lofotes. 

IY. THE CRUISE OF CAPTAIN JOHANNESEN IN 1870. 

Captain Johannesen sailed, in the summer of 1870, entirely around Nova 
Zembla. He found the north coast of it very erroneously placed on the 
charts, especially the North Cape, which he makes to be in 77° 08' N., and 
71° E. of Greenwich. His observations of the temperature, together with 
those of Captain Ulve, will prove the more valuable, as they connect with and 
check each other. 

Y. THE CRUISES OF CAPTAIN CARLSEN. 

Captain Carlsen made to Mr. von Heuglin the following statements in 
regard tp his last and his previous cruises: 

There was between Cape Torrell and Thumb Point generally much loose 
drift ice; but north of the parallel of 81° N., which-was passed between the 
meridians 20° and 21° E., no greater masses of ice were seen. 

Walrus and Storo Islands are much closer in shore than shown on the 
charts. 

Captain Carlsen does not deny the existence of Dove Bay, as has been 
stated erroneously in the narrative of the Swedish expedition, (German edi¬ 
tion, p. 479.) On the contrary, he landed in Dove Bay, near three greater 
islands, close to the Northeast Land, on which he found the remains of a Rus¬ 
sian settlement. East of these three islands, and close to them, there is a 
bight, between two mountains. 

Northeast of Storo, between latitude 80° 30' and 79° 40 / N., there was 
much ice, in large fields. 

The east coast of the Northeast Land is a connected glacier, but on the 


192 


east coast of Stans-Foreland there are but three glaciers between the mount¬ 
ains, which resemble in shape and height those on the west coast. 

Hope Island, which is placed on the charts pretty correctly, is very nar¬ 
row, and has no harbor. There are seven high and steep mountains on it. 
Yon Heuglin could distinguish only five. 

Half-Moon Island must be placed more to the west and nearer to the 
coast, wdiere there is a bight toward the north, in which a river empties. The 
strait between the island and the main is one mile in width and averages 
twenty fathoms in depth. 

The direction of the west coast of Gillis Land is, according to Carlsen, 
W. N. W. and E. S. E. The coast is steep, and before it, lies a smaller fore¬ 
land with very green slopes. He did not see glaciers there. When passing 
close to the land it was surrounded by fields of drift-ice, between which 
there were everywhere navigable channels. 

VI. LAMOUNT’S CRUISE IK 1870. 

Lamont started again, on the 16th of April, to hunt east of Spitzbergen 
and to make geographical observations. He has not been heard from yet. 

VII. THE EXPEDITIOK OF THE GRAKD DUKE ALEXEI, OF RUSSIA, IK 
THE IMPERIAL CORVETTE WARJAG, 1870. 

This expedition appears to have obtained most important data in regard 
to the northern extent of the Gulf Stream, as will be seen from the following 
note addressed to Dr. Petermann by Von MiddendorfF, a member of the Rus¬ 
sian Imperial Academy, who accompanied the Grand Duke: 

“On my return home I found on my table your memoir on the Gulf Stream. 
You have treated the subject most clearly, and carried the Gulf Stream east¬ 
ward beyond the North Cape to the Taimyr region, and even into the New 
Siberian Polynja. 

West of the North Cape your array of figures is irresistible, but east of 
it your conclusions are very bold. With the exception of Bessel’s 41°, you 
had no direct proofs. I rejoice that I can, not only, confirm your suppositions, 
but even go beyond them. You have been daring; nature is more so. 

I have been able to-day to demonstrate, before the Russian Imperial 
'Academy, that the corvette Warjag has proved the extension of the Gulf 
Stream to the west coast of Nova Zembla, and that we found it on the merid- 


193 


ian of Kanin Noss, (43 E.,) still of a width equal to two degrees of latitude, 

and of a temperature of 54°, cooling down, at depths of thirty and fifty fath¬ 
oms, only from four to six degrees. I will state here, preliminarily, that on 
your Chart No. 1 

1. The July isotherm of 10° B. (54°.5 F.) must be transferred from 
the White Sea to latitude 70° N. 

2. A branch of the Gulf Stream is probably cut in two by Kanin Noss 
which is washed by water of 52°.3 in temperature, and runs along the east 
coast of the White Sea. 

3. A cold water band, on the contrary, of a temperature of 43° to 41° 
runs along the west coast of the White Sea. 

4. The water has, on the meridian of Koljugew, still a temperature of 
50°, which decreases, up to Kostin Sliar, to 45°.5 and 42°. 

5. From Tromso to Iceland your curves prove excellently correct. 

We have not seen a single piece of drift ice, although we penetrated, in 
the end of July, to latitude 71° 12' N. 

Our course was as follows: From Archangel to the Solovetsk Islands; 
thence along the west coast of the White Sea to Kanin Noss ; from thence 
to the Seven Islands, the Kola Bay, Waranger Fiord, to the boundary line of 
Norway, Wadso, Wardo, Hammerfest, Tromso, Iceland, and then past the 
north coast of Scotland home. 

YIU. THE fix AMIXATIOXS OF TH. JABSHIXSKI IX THE WHITE SEA 
AND OX THE MUKMAXIAX COAST, 1869. 

The zoological researches of Th. Jarshinski, along the Murmanian coast 
of the Polar Sea, prove the affinity of the fauna there with that of the Atlan¬ 
tic Ocean, and point to a current along that coast, coming from the Atlantic 
Ocean. 

The “Iswestija,” (vol. vi, No. 6, of August 10, 1870, pp. 213 to 217,) 
has the following remarks in regard to this: 

“The temperature of the water in the southern part of the White Sea 
and in the strait between the Ter coast and the Green coast was, in fact, only 
37°.4 and 40°.1, that of the air being 44°.6 and 53°.6; in July only the tem¬ 
perature of the water rose to 57°.2, and that of the air to 73°.4. The same 
was observed east of the Holy Cape, (Swatoi Noss,) in the direction of the 
Kanin Peninsula;, with a temperature of the air at57°.2 and 62°.6, the water 
25 


194 


remained at 40°.1, even at a depth of eighty fathoms; and only after three 
days, when the temperature of the air had obtained 66°.2, that of the water 
on the surface rose, with a quiet sea, to 42°.8. 

“Entirely different are the temperature relations west of Swatoi Noss; 
while, on the coast and in the bays, the temperature of the water appeared 
independent of that of the air, it remained nearly always stationary at some 
distance from the coast; and in the vicinity of Kola Bay the temperature of 
the water was observed for three months to be in the mean 44°.6, (that of 
the air being in the mean 46°.4,) which is some degrees higher than further 
east. Sometimes the temperature of the water (42°.8) was even higher than 
that of the air (41 °.) 

“These relations have been observed so frequently that there is, at pres¬ 
ent, no doubt of the extension of a branch of the Gulf Stream along the Mur- 
manian coast. It is further proved that this branch, which is very effective 
at the Fishermen’s Peninsula, (Bybatschji Polnostrow,) and in the Kola Bay, 
weakens toward the east, but is still perceptible east of Swatoi Noss, and that 
therefore this branch of the Gulf Stream flows in these latitudes northeast, 
that is, toward Nova Zembla. 

IX. SSIDOBOFFS CBUISE TO THE MOUTH OF THE PETSCHOBA. 

The same number of the “ Iswestija” contains an account of this cruise. 
Mr. Ssidoroff found, at the mouth of the Petschora, Norwegian^ glass balls. 
On the north coast of Nova Zembla he observed a decided easterly current, 
as also in the Kara Straits; while the current in Jugor Schar appeared to 
depend upon the winds. 


REFERENCES AND NOTES. 






% 


✓ 











* 


I 







ft 





























1 
























































































































A 


REFERENCES AND NOTES TO DR. PETERMANN’S PAPER. 


1 “Geograpliisclie Mittheilungen,” 1865, pp. 150, et seq ., and table 5: Chart l. 
of the Arctic and Antarctic Regions from the Poles to the 20th degree of lati¬ 
tude north and south, showing the status of their geography in 18G5, the oceanic 
currents, &c. The notes on the Gulf Stream, pp. 154 to 158. 

[The citation is from a memoir by A. Petermann: “The North Pole and the South Pole, and 
the Importance of their Exploration,” accompanied by the chart named above. The passages of 
it relating to the Gulf Stream are incorporated into the various parts of the present paper.—H y¬ 
drographic Office.] 

2 Polar chart, illustrating A. Petermann’s paper on the opening into the 2 . 
Polar Sea between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. (Further correspondence 

and proceedings connected with the Arctic Expedition. Presented to both 
Houses of Parliament by command of her Majesty. London, 1852: pp. 142, et 
seq.) 

Professor J. G. Kohl, in his “ History of the Gulf Stream,” 1868, refers to 
Yon Baer, Kane, and Hove as authorities for the extension of the Gulf Stream 
to Nova Zembla and Siberia. But the citation, as printed in his books, cannot 
be found in Yon Baer’s memoir, and the latter speaks only in one place of the 
Gulf Stream near Spitzbergen, not near Nova Zembla. (Bulletin scientifique 
de l’Academie Imperiale de St. Petersbourg, 1838: iii, p. 158.) 

What Kane says in his discussion of December 14, 1852, (Bulletin of the 
American Geographical and Statistical Society, January 1, 1853, No. 2, p. 89,) 
is from my letter to the British Admiralty of January 23,1852. (Compare Brit¬ 
ish Blue Book: “ Further Correspondence and Proceedings connected with the 
Arctic Expedition,” pp. 142, et seq. Also, Atlienteum, January 17, 1852, and 
Petermann, “The Search for Sir John Franklin.” London, Longman, 1852, pp. 

5, et seq.) 

The chart, published by Kane with his memoir, in 1853, is a copy of my 
“Polar Chart, illustrating Dr. P. C. Sutherland’s Account of Captain Penny’s 
Expedition, 1850 and 1851, and showing the Chief Physical Features of the 
Arctic Regions.” 

In translating the passage of Kane’s discussion: “The Gulf Stream, after 
dividing the Labrador current, has been traced by Professor Dove to the upper 
regions of Nova Zembla,” Kohl says that Professor Dove and the Russian 
Academician von Baer have done so, but, in fact, neither of them has. Professor 
Dove only infers the extent of the Gulf Stream to Nova Zembla from the general 
direction of the isothermal curves. (Transactions of the Berlin Academy: 1848, 
p. 209.) 

In Humbold’s “Kosmos” (1845, vol. i, p. 327) the Gulf Stream is shown 
extending only to Ireland, the Hebrides, and Norway. 


3 Besides at other places, pp. 155 to 158. 


3. 



198 


Xotcs. 

4. 


4 Geographisclie Mittheilungen, 18G7, pp. 184, et seq. ; and 1869, p. 35. 

[The following extracts from the two monographs contain the passages relating to the Gulf 
Stream.— Hydrographic Office.] 

I. FROM THE u NORTHERNMOST LAND OF THE GLOBE,” (MITTHEILUNGEN, 1867, 

PP. 184, ET SEQ.) 

3. Currents , and their influence on climate , vegetation , animal life , and man. 

The geography and hydrography of the Arctic Ocean are still waiting elab¬ 
oration. We have attempted geographical compilations for the Antarctic* the 
material for which is comparatively little and easy to master; but for the Arctic 
there has accumulated so much that a thorough elaboration of but single 
branches would require years. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that there 
is so much vagueness in regard to a part of that ocean, as much frequented and 
explored as Baffin’s Bay, and that even its currents, although sharply defined, are 
not yet completely recorded. 

It has been generally assumed that a broad and deep stream of cold water 
traverses the entire length of the bay from north to south, and that a counter- 
current, also of cold water, entering around the southern cape of Greenland, pro¬ 
ceeds along the western coast of the latter as far as Disco Island, where it ceases. 
This erroneous conception we have still entertained in table 5 of the u Geograph- 
ische Mittheilungen” for 1865, as also Herm. Berghaus, in the latest edition of 
the u Chart of the World.” Lately, however, A. Miihry has shown that this 
counter-current is not a cold, but on the contrary a warm stream; in fact, an 
arm of the Gulf Stream. 

[Compare A. Mlilirv on the system of currents in the circumpolar basin of the northern hemi¬ 
sphere, “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1867, p. 66. A translation of this very interesting memoir 
is annexed, and will be found on page 135, et seq., of this volume. —Hydrographic Office.] 

This fact could have been ascertained long since from the log-books of the 
numerous expeditions which have gone to the bay. A single one of them, that 
of the first Grinnell expedition under De Haven and Kane, would have been 
sufficient to show it. The latter, an extraordinarily full one, (compare Kane, the 
United States Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin: Kew York, 
1854, pp. 509, et seq.,) is even accompanied by a-current chart, drawn by Charles 
A. Schott, which, although representing its contents by no means exhaustingly, 
shows clearly enough the principal features of the currents. 

On this chart we see two currents running through the entire length of Baf¬ 
fin’s Bay; the one, a colder, from Lancaster Sound along the west coast toward 
the south; the other, a warmer, entering in latitude 50° N., and proceeding along 
the east coast up to Melville Bay. Exactly the course of this eastern warmer 
current is the route of the ships going to Lancaster Sound or Pond’s Bay. It is 
a standing rule with them to sail on a great arc extending far to the north. 
They follow the western coast of Greenland to about Wilcox Point, (74J° north 
latitude,) thence they hold across Melville Bay for Cape York; from thence they 
keep on or near the 76th degree of latitude to the middle of Baffin’s Bay, when 
they head southwesterly either for Lancaster Sound, (in 74° K.,) or still more 
southerly for Pond’s Bay, (in 72£o N.) This circuitous route, carrying the ship 
some degrees higher north than the port, is adopted because on it an open sea, 


199 


Notes. 

or, at tlie worst, navigable breaks through the drift ice can be counted on with 4 . 
certainty. (Con’d.) 

This stream, however, which opens the route, does not cease in Melville 
Bay, as Schott and Berghaus assume on their charts, and is not cold water ; 
but, on the contrary, it first begins there to show distinctly, in grand effects, 
its character of a branch of the Gulf Stream. Meeting in its course toward the 
north the first obstruction—the coasts of Hayes’ Peninsula, which project far to 
the west—its entire volume is deflected westwardly; all the ice coming from the 
north, the west, (from Jones’ Sound,) and the southwest, is pushed aside with 
irresistible force, and thus an always open and navigable basin is created, which 
has been named by whalers the u nortl^ water.” From here a part of this warm 
stream returns south, carried off by the cold currents which discharge through 
the northern and western sounds, (Smith, Jones, and Lancaster;) but the main 
pursues its way further north, along the Greenland coast, and can be traced very 
distinctly to the northern limits of Smith Sound. Already the first navigator of 
this sound, Inglefield, records a strong current which he followed from Cape 
York to Cape Hatkerton, and which he observed to have, at the entrance of the 
sound, a force of not less than seventy-two miles in twenty-four hours; and this 
current is established with certainty by the experience of liis successors, Kane 
and Hayes. The logs of their expeditions are not published, and no direct obser¬ 
vations of the currents there appear on record; but both these explorers narrate 
facts which give better evidence in regard to the currents of this region than 
isolated direct observations could convey. - Like Inglefield, they prove that, 
within this warm stream, vessels may proceed at all times, with ease and speed, 
from Melville Bay to and into Smith Saund, and that the entire eastern half of 
these waters was always found open and navigable. On the opposite western 
coast, on the contrary, where the current sets from north to south, an accumula¬ 
tion of drift ice is met with in nearly every instance. 

Most distinctly is the influence of the current to be seen in Smith Sound 
itself, where the water was found open and navigable up to the northernmost 
point, (Pelham or Cairn Point.) To the north of this point vast masses of ice 
are encountered, which, at least during the three years of Kane’s and Hayes’ 
stay in Rensselaer Bay and Port Foulke, had so accumulated, and were so thick 
and firm, that it was possible to travel over them in sleighs in all directions. The 
barrier of ice in Smith Sound, under’the influence of the two currents from 
north and south meeting here, has a northwest and southeast direction, from 
Cairn Point to Cape Isabella. 

Not only in the summer is this spur of the Gulf Stream open and navigable, 
but also throughout the entire winter, even the most severe, and when immense 
masses of ice pour through the various seas and from the glaciers of the neigh¬ 
borhood. This is even the case in the comparatively narrow Smith Sound. Hayes 
records that, throughout the long winter night at Port Foulke, at the lowest tem¬ 
peratures, he could hear distinctly from the ship the beating of the waves; the 
temperature fell below the freezing point of mercury, (—41°,) but the sea in the 
sound remained open. (Compare Hayes, The Open Polar Sea, p. 361.) On this 
open sea the Esquimaux depend altogether; it admits the walrus, without which 
they could not exist. 

The results of this warm stream are grand. Foremost among them is the pos¬ 
sibility of human beings living and existing on Hayes’ Peninsula, where there are 


200 


Bfotes. 

4 . permanent habitations, the nearest to the Pole. No human beings are living on 

(Con’d.) Parry’s Archipelago; in fact, none north of Lancaster Sound. (Compare 
“ Geographisclie Mittheilungen,” 1859, p. 1.) The northernmost Danish settlement 
in West Greenland is Upernavik, and even Esquimaux villages are not found 
higher than in 73° north latitude, where the glaciers of Melville Bay begin, which, 
covering a coast of nearly 280 nautical miles in length, are of more grandeur than 
the Humboldt glacier, discovered by Kane, of but 40 miles in extent. The exist¬ 
ence of men appears to be impossible on this long stretch of the coast. The Es¬ 
quimaux of Southern Greenland do not extend their hunting excursions into this 
region, and have no knowledge of it; while European ships and exploring expe¬ 
ditions cannot penetrate into it on account of the ice, of which the sea, along the 
glacier coast, is always full. But north of it, where the warm stream, after flow¬ 
ing through a deep sea, bounds directly against the coast, which has turned in 
a westerly direction, we again meet men—the Esquimaux of Hayes’ Peninsula, 
the u Arctic Highlanders” of Boss, a powerful race, able, poorly armed, to con¬ 
quer the colossal polar bear, and to overcome the not less strong and dangerous 
walrus, in a four hours’ fight on weak ice. Kane found permanent settlements 
of these Esquimaux as high as Etah on Smith Sound; that is, as far as the 
warm stream predominates to a certainty. 

There is the greatest possible contrast in the effects resulting from the two 
streams meeting here, as they presented themselves to Kane in Kensselaer Bay 
and to Hayes in Port Foulke. At the former place the northern cold stream is 
impressing its influence upon its surroundings; in the latter, the southern warm 
stream. The scientific observations of Hayes, those for temperature inclusive, 
are, unfortunately, not yet published, and the climatic differences can, therefore, 
not be shown by figures; but the descriptions of the natural phenomena express 
them distinctly. The basin named after Kane never opened during the two 
years of his stay there, although it is twice as broad as Smith Sound; while at 
Port Foulke no firm ice at all formed, and even small bights were hardly bridged 
over between the innermost points. The Esquimaux hunt sometimes on the 
coast of Kane’s Basin, but they never stay there permanently. They call the 
sea between Smith Sound, Whale Sound, and the Cary Islands, “Utlak Soak,” 
that is, “the great sea basin, the water caldron, or the boiling basin,” to dis¬ 
tinguish it from Kane’s Basin, which is always filled with ice. (Kane, II, p. 213.) 

The center of this water basin, warmed by the Gulf Stream, is probably 
Whale Sound, as the warm stream flowing into it appears to be least affected 
and cooled down by the cold streams, which discharge all around. Here the 
most developed vegetation is found, and always a fabulous number of sea ani¬ 
mals; and here is the last resort of the whole Esquimaux tribe, when every¬ 
where else hunting fails or nature becomes too severe. Hayes found, in 1861, a 
third of the tribe here assembled, and none north of it. Already Bylot and Baf¬ 
fin were astonished by the immense number of whales which they met here, and 
from which they called the bay Whale Sound. Inglefield found it entirely free 
of ice, containing vast quantities of sea weed, and swarming with sea animals. 
When landing he was struck by the comparatively luxuriant vegetation. (Ingle¬ 
field, Summer Search, pp. 58, et seq.) Kane also observed, on Northumberland 
Island, a luxuriant vegetation and vast numbers of birds. (Kane, I, pp. 333 and 
347.) Hayes lastly describes the green meadows of that island as a paradise— 
the most luxuriant oasis north of the Danish settlements of South Greenland; 


201 


Notes. 

(Hayes’ Arctic Boat Journey, p. 02;) and lie confirms this in the narrative of his 4 . 
second voyage; (Hayes, The Open Sea, p. 433;) adding that the sea is filled with ( Con ’ d d 
immense herds of whales and walrus and the air by “myriads of butterflies,” 

Musk buftaloes also are said to exist still south of Whale Sound. (Hayes, The 
Open Sea, 1>. 390.) Their bones are found on all the coasts of Hayes’ Peninsula, 

The distance between Kane’s and Hayes’ winter quarters is almost 3G nau¬ 
tical miles, but the difference of the temperature, in the fauna, &c., is so great 
that Kane’s expedition must have perished without the resources of Etah, the 
settlement of the Esquimaux near Port Foulke. The proceeds of the chase at 
Rensselaer Bay were very small, almost nothing; no walrus or seal was found 
there, and reindeer very rarely; but for the walrus meat obtained in Smith 
Sound no member of the expedition would have seen home again. At Port 
Foulke, on the contrary, great herds of reindeer were met all the winter, and 
more than two hundred head were killed by members of Hayes’ expedition, fur¬ 
nishing the most excellent fresh meat; and, in addition, hares, foxes, seal, eider- 
geese, and other birds. The principal food of the.Esquimaux, during the win¬ 
ter, is the walrus, of which there is, at all times, an abuu dance in the open sea 
at Port Foulke. (Compare Hayes, The Open Sea, p. 345.) 

The open sea in Smith Sound, even in the winter, was for Kane a phenom¬ 
enon, for which he could not account in the face of the terrible cold and the 
ice, against which he had to contend at Rensselaer Harbor. (Kane, ii, p. 32.) 

He did not think of the currents and their influence, and he does not appear to 
have made observations of the temperature on his excursions to the southward. 

Hayes very frequently alludes to the mild climate of Port Foulke in contrast with - 
the low temperatures found elsewhere. In November, 18G0, the thermometer 
rose to +32°, and rain was falling, which Hayes had in Rensselaer Bay only 
observed in the height of summer, in July and August. On the IGtli of 
March, 1861, Hayes, while on a northern excursion, observed at Cairn’s Point 

_G8J°, when at Port Foulke the thermometer showed —27°; thus on the same 

day the temperature at the latter place was higher by 41J°. (Hayes, pp. 103, 

194, and 280.) 

II. FROM “THE NEWLY DISCOVERED POLAR LAND AND THE EXPEDITIONS TO 

THE ARCTIC SEA NORTH OF BEHRIN&’S STRAITS FROM 1648 TO 18G7.” 

(GKEOGrRAPHISCHE MITTHEILUNGEN, 18G0, p. 35.) 

The prevailing current, setting in the spring and summer through Behring’s 
Straits in a northerly direction, proceeds principally northeast, but near the 
coast, between Cape Krusenstern and Point Hope, it is deflected partially north¬ 
west one branch flowing between the Siberian coast and the newly discovered 
land’ and another northward toward Herald Island, thus washing the new polar 
land’on its southern and eastern coasts. The latter branch corresponds pretty 
accurately with the belt inclosed there by the 30-fatliom curve, and is well estab¬ 
lished by"the wreck of the Gratitude which, in the beginning of July, 1865, was 
abandoned thirty miles west of Point Hope in latitude 68JQ, and longitude 
168° W. of Greenwich, and was seen again in the following month (August) near 
Herald Island. (See Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 18, 1868.) 

’ Captain Raynor expressly mentions having seen this northern stream at 
Herald Island free of ice. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 0, 1867.) 

26 


202 


Notes. 

4. In tlie fall and winter the current sets in the opposite direction, southward 

(Con’d.) through Behring’s Straits, for which fact we also have obtained new data and 

explanations by whalers, who have wintered at various points. 

The statements of Yon Wrangell in regard to the currents bn the Siberian 
coast fully agree with this. He says that in the summer they flow to the west¬ 
ward, in the fall to the eastward. (Wrangell, ii, p. 254.) 

But a current coifting from Cape Barrow sets also in the summer to the 
south, until it encounters, in latitude G9J°, the warm stream from the southward. 
To the influence of this current it may be ascribed that north of Point Hope an 
extensive submarine terrace has formed reaching from that cape to latitude 72£°, 
between the meridians of 1G9° and 176° west of Greenwich, and culminating in 
the Herald Bank, on which there is only a depth of seven fathoms. Tlie warm 
stream, meeting here this polar current, melts and destroys the ice of the lat¬ 
ter, and causes the debris of earth, stones, and rocks, which were carried along 
with the ice, to be deposited; thus, in all probability, the sea has shoaled here, 
as at Newfoundland, Spitzbergen, Bear Island, and other regions, where t>we 
such streams run against each other. 

The influence of the currents is shown most strikingly by the nature of the 
coasts north of Behring’s Straits, that of the American which is washed by the 
warm stream, and the so widely different one of the Asiatic coast which is more 
exposed to the cold currents. Never, perhaps, has the contrast been so clearly 
expressed in a few words as by Edward Mohr, of Bremen, who in 1851 came there 
with a German mercantile expedition. He says, (E. Mohr, u Reise- und Jagd- 
bilder aus der Slidsee, Californien und Siidost-Africa: ” Bremen, 0. Schlinemann, 
18G8, p. 21.) “ The difference in the character of the vegetation between the shores 
of the Kotzebue Sound and the Asiatic coast in the same latitude is striking 
indeed. While in Asia all vegetation, with the exception of moss, some lichens, 
and a few small plants which creep along the ground, appears dead, and a dreary 
polar desert impresses the mind with melancholy and sadness,* trees grow on 
Chamisso Island to the height of twenty feet, and the ground is covered with 
small bushes which bear red and blue edible berries so plentifully that we could 
carry buckets full of them on board the Rena.” 

5, 6. 5 and 6 Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, xiii, p. 103: 

[Tlie following is the paper read by Mr. Findlay before tbe society.— Hydrographic Office.] 

On the Gulf Stream . Bjj A. G. Findlay. 

In the early part qf 1853 I presented to the Society, in this room, some 
remarks on the current systems of the ocean—-at that time, as it still is—a com¬ 
paratively neglected subject. In that paper I advocated the views that each 
great ocean has a circulatory system within itself, and that there was also a con¬ 
stant intercommunication and intercharge of the whole surface water of the 
entire oceans. Of this vast circulatory system the Gulf Stream is the best known, 
as it is the most remarkable of these currents. At that period it was fully 
believed that the Gulf Stream flowed in one mighty and majestic current of warm 
water from the surface to its bed, at great depths; and thus there was but little 
difficulty in believing that its tropically-heated waters could reach the shores of 
Europe with only a partial loss of the warmth they had acquired. But the first 


203 


Notes. 

actual experiments, announced soon afterward, dispelled at once all preconceived 5 , 6. 
notions as to its vast magnitude. (Con’d.) 

The progress of deep-sea sounding, and obtaining the temperature at enor¬ 
mous depths, as well as determining the nature of the ocean bed, although great, 
has not kept pace with the requirements of science. 

The facts that have since been brought to light, have placed the subject in so 
much obscurity that it may be really said that we know* very much less of the 
entire system, than was safely argued upon when only the surface-waters were 
considered. And I think that it would be impossible to generalize any system 
of ocean-physics which shall satisfactorily account for all the observed phenom¬ 
ena, further than that it is almost certain that there is some sort of circulation 
and interchange taking place in the lowest strata, as can be sufficiently traced 
in the surface waters of the ocean. 

Now, as much vague surmise and loose assertion has of late been made 
respecting the possible effects of the Gulf Stream and its influence on the climate 
of this and adjacent countries, during the late period of unusually high mean 
temperature, I thought that it might be well to draw the attention of the Society 
to first principles, and to show what is actually and* accurately known of this 
great current, as derived from later researches. I will, therefore, by the aid of 
the diagram, point out some of what may, as Mr. Bates has said, be termed 
u popular errors.” 

The waters of the North Atlantic circulate, as I have said before, around a 
central area—the Sargasso Sea; and the western branch of this circuit—that 
portion which issues from among the West India Islands, after recurring from 
the intertropical to the extratropical regions—is well known as the Gulf Stream 
or the Florida Stream. Now, as this mighty current has been traced and meas¬ 
ured, both in volume and velocity, along the coasts of the United States as far 
as Nantucket, we can, from the known amount of each quantity at its entrance 
into the strait, easily measure its possible effects on distant regions. 

The Gulf Stream, at its commencement, is confined between the coast of 
Florida and those of Cuba and the Bahama Banks, and no other water can reach 
it during this part of the course. The first section—that at its westernmost 
limit—was examined, in 1858, between the Dry Tortugas and the entrance to 
Havana, a distance of 98 miles, which showed that the water gradually deepened 
from the north side to the maximum depth of 770 fathoms, within five miles of 
the Cuban shore. The next section will be more suitable for my demonstration. 

In 18G6 it became necessary to lay an electric cable between the Florida 
Keys and the Havana, and the United States Coast Survey, under Mr. Hilgard, 
undertook the examination of the bottom. The line of soundings was carried 
from Sand Key to the Moro Castle of Havana, in a diagonal line across the main 
strength of the stream, where it first enters the channel which gives its name, 
a distance of 82J miles. On the diagram this section is represented in its actual 
relative dimensions of breadth and depth; but, as these are not very visible, an 
exaggerated section of five vertical to one horizontal is given. To this, and to 
the next, particular attention is drawn, as they contain the clew to the real 
character of the Gulf Stream. 

Starting from the northern side, the bottom falls away in terraces, nowhere 
abrupt, to a depth of 501 fathoms at a distance of 29£ miles, and to 087 fath¬ 
oms at 31 miles, nearly half over. The maximum depth of 815 fathoms is found 


204 


Notes. 

5 , 6 . at 45 \ miles from the north side; from this to the Cuban shore the bottom is 
(Con’d.) and precipitous, and at about 20f miles from the Moro the summit of a sub¬ 
marine mountain ridge is reached, which rises about 2,400 feet above the bed ot 
the strait, that is, from within 380 to 320 fathoms of the surface. This mountain 
ridge has been traced for more than 12 miles parallel with the axis of the strait, 
and falling precipitously toward the south, deep water continuing close up to the 
south shore. 

From the northern side the bottom is rocky, with coral, to the depth of 300 
fathoms; at depths beyond this it is of that peculiar gray mud, or granular 
mud, sometimes with red patches, the ordinary type of the organic life of the 
ocean bed. 

The temperature of the water, varying according to the season from 80° or 
84° on the surface, sinks to G0° on the summit of the ridge above mentioned, 
and is only 45° at the bottom, 13° above the freezing point of fresh water. 

In the northern half of this section, above the terraces south of the Florida 
Beefs, the water lies almost motionless, and 4t is only over the deep canons of 
the southern half of the Gulf that the Gulf Stream flows to the eastward. 

It is thus only 40 miles broad in its greatest strength. Its depth cannot 
exceed the summit of the submarine ridge, and it was found, on hauling in the 
sounding-line, that the upper moving stratum is scarcely more than one-third of 
the maximum depth. So that the actual sectional area of the Gulf Stream, at 
its highest temperature and greatest velocity, is not more than 5 to 8 square 
miles. 

Such a well-determined fact shows how entirely fallacious were those specu¬ 
lations formed prior to its establishment. It will be no great sacrifice of precon¬ 
ceived opinion to curtail the Gulf Stream of those widely extended and majestic 
features with which it was formerly endowed. 

The data thus acquired as to its initial course is exactly borne out by fur¬ 
ther explorations beyond this. 

Passing by the next section, between the Sombrero light-house and the Salt 
Key Bank, about 120 miles further to the eastward, where it is 45 miles wide, 
(examined in April, 1859, by Commander Craven, U. S. K,) which showed that 
its maximum depth is only 600 fathoms, and the greatest depth still being on its 
southern side, and also the next, between the Qarysfort light house and the Great 
Bahama Bank, (examined by Commander Craven, in May, 1859,) 03 miles wide, 
maximum depth about 500 fathoms, we come to the most important, because it is 
the crucial test of the magnitude and character of the Gulf Stream. Each of 
these sections is on the diagram before you, and they must speak for themselves. 

The narrowest part of the Gulf Stream is, also, by very much, the shallowest 
part of its course—a fact almost incredible, but that it rests on a solid basis. It 
was obtained by Commander Craven, in 1855. The distance between Cape 
Florida and the Bernini Isles is 45 miles, and the maximum depth is only from 
300 to 370 fathoms. The temperature of the water at the bed was only 49°, so 
that here again the warm water does not extend more than one-third or one-half 
the entire depth, demonstrating the cubical amount of warm water passing oxer 
this line to be nearly the same as that shown in the first section, from which 
this is distant about 250 miles. 

Nothing is said hereabout the cold polar currents in a reverse direction, 
which have been traced in this its strongest and warmest portion; but a very 


205 


. Notes. 

slight amount of reflection will raise a doubt as to whether such a bulk of water 5 , o. 
could reach our shores, and .transport over so wide an area the influence of the (Con’d.) 
tropical heat of the Gulf of Mexico. 

A slight glance at its further progress will, I think, convert this doubt into 
a certainty with every one. It is confined between the Little Bahama Bank and 
the Florida coast, and from this point to its entrance into the Gulf is about 330 
miles. 

Hitherto its course has been one undivided stream, lying over a very cold 
substratum, probably flowing in a reverse direction, and with cold counter-cur- 
* rents appearing near its margin. To the northward it pursues its course, as is 
well known, generally parallel to the inequalities of the United States coast. 

But it here appears only as one of a series of parallel bands, the warmest of four 
belts, having one within it and two (or more) to the east and southeast of it, which 
warm bands are separated by as many belts of colder water flowing in an opposite 
direction; and within or inshore is the very cold Arctic current, also flowing 
southward. The warm belt of the true Gulf Stream is so pressed upon the coast 
that the exactly defined separation, between its dark blue and tepid waters and 
the lighter and much colder Arctic Stream, has been termed the u Cold Wall,” 
the division being so nearly perpendicular and well marked to great depths; and 
this characteristic is preserved as far as, and perhaps beyond, New York Harbor 
entrance. The outer edge is very vaguely defined, and in its northern portion 
it imperceptibly blends with the ordinary tenqperature of the ocean in the same 
latitudes. Beyond this it turns much more to the eastward, and having arrived 
at the meridian of the Nantucket Bank, about longitude 68° or 69°, its limits 
become still less defined, and when it reaches the meridian of 50°, or that of the 
Newfoundland Banks, its southern margin cannot be detected. 

The inner or western edge is very sharply defined throughout its course 
along the coast of the United States. Why it is so pressed upon the cold Arc¬ 
tic current, with which it does not mix, has never, to my knowledge, been well 
accounted for. 

I might here draw attention to the speculations of Mr. Leighton Jordan, 
which will very satisfactorily explain it, if his. premises be accepted. 

He argues that the vis inertice of the ocean will account for this as far as 
most other currents; and this is deserving of much attention. In few words, 
this pressure of the stream upon the coast is owing to the diurnal rotation of the 
earth, which drives the land upon the ocean waters, the latter being less subject 
to the axial motion of the earth. For our purpose this very definite feature of 
its left-hand margin, being very much the warmest and strongest, will bear out 
more fully the view I am now advocating, as it is that portion more subject to 
further disturbance, as shown presently. 

The length of its course after leaving the Gulf of Florida to the tail of the 
NewfoundlaiuFBanks is about 3,500 miles, and its breadth has increased from 
about 70 miles off Charleston, 120 miles off Cape Hatteras, at Nantucket to per¬ 
haps 300 miles; and its mean annual velocity 65.5 miles per day in the strait of 
Florida, 56 miles off Charleston, 36 to 46.5 off Nantucket, and 28 miles south 
of the Newfoundland Banks. So that I have calculated that it would take from 
twenty to twenty-five days in the main strength of the current to reach Nan¬ 
tucket, or fifty days to arrive off the Newfoundland Banks. Its surface tempera¬ 
ture has cooled down from 80° or 84° to 58° in winter, and from 75° to 62° in 


206 


Notes. 

5 , (». summer; and, I think, it is evidently a physical impossibility that the volume of 

(Con’d.) warm water which passes through the narrows of Cape Florida could ever make 
such an impression without some other addition to its strength. The whole bulk 
of water above 70° in the Florida Gulf would not make a film one hundred feet 
thick at Nantucket, or fifty feet at Newfoundland. I think it could be demon¬ 
strated that the existence of some of the’outer warm bands above alluded to, is 
owing to a drift which curves to the northward outside of the Bahamas. But 
the observations recorded in the space north of the Bahamas show no evidence 
of such a drift, which it is difficult'to believe does not exist. Having reached 
the point south of Newfoundland a new phase is arrived at. It here encounters •. 
the Arctic current coming down the coast of Labrador throughout the year, and 
during the spring and summer months transporting the deeply-floating icebergs 
far into its northern edge, and this northern or left-hand edge has been before 
shown to be its strongest and most well-marked portion. The struggle between 
the Arctic and Tropical currents is here so strongly marked that the interlacing 
of the warm and cold waters, as shown by the thermometer, has been compared 
to the clasped fingers of the hands; and the veins of each of these distinctly 
marked ocean waters are so well defined that a few miles, or even yards, is suffi¬ 
cient to carry a ship out or into a tropical influence. 

One feature of this down-bearing current is very distinctly marked, and 
deserves especial attention. On the eastern side of the Grand Bank it is so 
powerful that, according to the surface isotherms, it penetrates from 150 to 200 
miles southward of its general limit, and therefore entirely intersects the surface 
waters of the easterly stream for that breadth, which, as before stated, is the 
most important part of its course. 

I contend, therefore, that by the time the Gulf Stream has reached this limit 
its original character is so thinned out and expanded, and its specific character 
is so destroyed from this cause, and from the neutralizing effects of this Labra¬ 
dor current, that it can be no longer recognized beyond this cold-water gulf, which 
cuts off, as it were, its further progress, and which, it is manifest, it can neither 
bridge over nor pass under. The well known northeasterly drift which reaches 
the shores of Northern Europe, which is warmer at 300 miles northeast of the 
Newfoundland Banks than the Gulf Stream south of them, must be produced by 
other causes, and has a distinct origin; it is therefore time that it had a distinct 
designation. 

But the evidences of the existence of the Gulf Stream pass beyond this. 
The gulf-weed it has drifted, the cocoa-nuts and tropical produce which are 
thrown upon the coasts of Iceland and Norway, the same evidences of its trans¬ 
porting power which are at times found on the south coast of Iceland, and more 
abundantly in the space south of Cape Farewell, and the drifted mahogany-log 
which made the Danish Governor’s dining table, on the west coast of Greenland, 
were carried by other powers than that of the Gulf Stream-. 

It would take, from the data I have reckoned, 150 days to carry any object 
from the Banks of Newfoundland to our coasts, or 200 days from the West In¬ 
dies, and this fact, also, combined with what lias been said before about the 
actual bulk of the Gulf Stream, will demonstrate that it is impossible such effects 
can be attributed to it, because, in addition, it is continuous with that stream 
which flows southward down the coast of Portugal, the eastern branch of the 
circulation of the North Atlantic surface waters. 


207 


Notes. 

How, then, can the phenomenon of onr warm climate he accounted for? 5 , o. 
The reason is most simple and obvious. The great belt of anti-trade or passage ( Con ’ d -) 
winds which surround the globe northward of the tropics, passing to the north¬ 
eastward, or from some point to the southward of west, pass over the entire 
area of the North Atlantic, and drift the whole surface of that ocean toward 
the shores of Northern Europe, and into the Arctic basin, infusing into high 
latitudes the temperature and moisture of much lower parallels; and which alone 
would be sufficient to account for all changes of climate by their variations, 
without any reference whatever to the Gulf Stream. 

A few words as to the ocean-bed and its inhabitants. The facts cited by 
Lieutenant Chimmo, combined with those of other observers in most parts of 
the ocean, demonstrate, as I believe, one important fact, that the whole of the 
ocean waters are in course of interchange, and that, like the atmosphere, there 
is a perpetual movement from the surface to the bottom. 

If otherwise, and the lower beds are quiescent, how do those minute creat¬ 
ures, almost deprived of motion, exist? They would soon exhaust all their 
requirements from the waters within their reach, if fresh supplies were not 
brought them by this circulatory system. 

The same organisms are found all over the areas experimented on, whether 
under the Arctic Circle, or under the heated Tropics, and the ascertained .tem¬ 
peratures are nearly the same in all cases, proving that there is a similar 
water climate throughout. 

Another evidence of this circulation is the universality of the composition 
and characteristics of ocean water. If it were not so, each region would possess 
a different fauna, having a different description of medium to exist in. It is the 
same from the surface to the bottom. This was demonstrated by the star-fish 
brought up alive between Greenland and Iceland from the depth of 1,260 fath¬ 
oms, (1J mile.) If these animals had been brought through water of different 
constituent character, they would have died during the hour it took to haul 
them in. 

Although what has been thus briefly stated may be antagonistic to the 
generally received opinion, I hold that it cannot be altogether contradicted, and 
instead of offering any further explanation of known phenomena, I recommend 
the subject to the zeal of future observers. 

Our present knowledge is almost a blank, and the matter deserves every 
consideration. 

[In the same sitting of the Royal Geographical Society a paper also was read by Lieuten¬ 
ant Chimmo, of the British navy, relating to soundings and temperatures in the Gulf Stream, 
which, with the discussion of both papers by members of the Society, is added.— Hydrographic 
Office.] 

Soundings and temperatures in the Gulf Stream. By Commander W. Chimmo , 

B. 1ST. 

Toward the latter part of the year 1868, after H. M. S. Gannet had been 
upward of three years on the North American and West India stations, she was 
ordered, during her homeward voyage, to define the northern limits of the Gulf 
Stream, and to take deep soundings and temperatures within those limits. 

Sailing from Halifax, in Nova Scotia, on the 1st of July, the ship passed 
from water whose surface temperature was 51° to that of 61°, in less than an 


208 


Notes* 

5 , <». hour; shortly afterward to 04°, showing that the Gulf Stream water had been 
(Con’d.) reached since leaving that place. 

Latitude 43° 20' A., longitude 00° W. —To the south of Sable Island, 30 
miles, a sounding was obtained of 2,600 fathoms, or 15,600 feet, nearly three 
miles; with a weight of 232 pounds, and the ingenious machine invented by 
Brooke, the rod brought up, after four hours’ patient hauling, Foraminifera in 
their various forms, chiefly Globigerince; forms and clusters of three, four, and 
five chambers. The interior of those fully developed was coated with an appa¬ 
rently fine crystallized, many-colored, quartzose sand; of these forms some were 
circular, flat, and plate-shaped, having a smooth interior rim, (the Polycystinci;) 
the outer margin serrated, and the center coated with the same granular parti¬ 
cles; others hemispherical, some single, globular; others fragments as thin and 
transparent as water. Intermixed with these were particles of transparent many- 
colored crystals, with Coccosplieres in all stages of growth and size. 

The towing net collected seven species of Crustacea , one Cornucopia , and a 
J anthina fragilis ; the dye from which latter, when placed in a wine-glass of clear 
water, colored the whole a rich mauve. A very small portion of this apparently 
impalpable adhesive mud, diluted, and placed under the microscope, showed a 
field of the most perfectly formed organisms. 

The ship next sailed to the western edge of the Grand Banks of Newfound¬ 
land, where a sounding of 1,500 fathoms brought up what appeared, under a 
common glass, minute particles of transparent quartzose sand, with globular 
forms of calcareous formation; also some Algce with parasitical attachments, 
probably of lime, but all formed by animal life out of carbonate of lime from 
ocean waters. The temperature of this mud, or u oaze,” as it will be called, was 
56°; but at a depth of 1,000 fathoms the thermometer showed 40°.3, and at 500 
fathoms only 39°.5, so that the mud probably changed its temperature in pass¬ 
ing through a stratum of warmer water, as the sea surface was 60°. This 
showed an under stratum of very cold water, there being a difference of 20° 
between the surface and 500 fathoms, and possibly so at a very much less depth. 

Having run north of the limit of the Gulf Stream, again stood to the south¬ 
ward, and soon came into warmer water, at a temperature of 60°; from a cold, 
damp, penetrating fog, into a mild and summer-like atmosphere; 1,500 fathoms 
was again found, and.the cup brought up the usual grey impalpable mud, (oaze.) 
The towing net collected a beautiful float of the Nautilus, having 13 chambers, 
and a fragmentary valve of a delicate fluted Pecten. The temperatures were 
precisely the same as in the former sounding, except that the surface was 65°, 
and at 100 fathoms the thermometer showed 50°; a difference of 15° in only 100 
fathoms, another proof of the Gulf Stream being merely superficial. 

At day-dawn this morning, to the great surprise of every one, we saw an 
old Labrador friend, a huge iceberg, having a warm bath in a temperature of 
62°, double that of its own. Although it was still 150 feet high, and nearly 400 
immersed, it was quickly and perceptibly undermining, decomposing, splitting 
with loud reports, and floating away in large portions with the easterly current. 

It curiously happened that this immense iceberg stood in the very spot, 30 
miles south of the edge of the Grand Bank, where not only the deepest waters 
of the Atlantic were supposed to be, but where we intended to get a sounding to 
ascertain if this were the fact; the result showed it was not so. 

Sail was furled, steam got up, and the Gannet ranged up as near as was 


209 


Notes. 

prudent under tlie lee of our chilly friend; and in the midst of a thunder-storm, 5, e. 
Avith Brooke’s rod and weights, obtained at a depth of 1,450 fathoms the same ( Con ’ d -) 
“oaze,” disproving the idea of the deepest water being here. This depth 
appears to be not only the usual one, but also the slope of the banks, as well as 
• the general character of their formation. 

By the temperatures here obtained, the same stratum of cold arctic water 
was passing under the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream. The rod brought 
up a small portion of feldspar with glittering particles of mica, evidently depos¬ 
ited there by icebergs from Davis’ Strait, and that very recently. 

We now sailed east for the spot where Lieutenant Sainthill, in latitude 42° 

37' N., and longitude 41° 45' W., obtained, in 1832, 100 fathoms on sharp rocky 
bottom, bringing up on the arming of the lead “ fine bluish ashes 5 ” and he was 
under the impression that he was over a submarine \ T olcano in a state of erup¬ 
tion. At 2 p. m. on the 12th of July we reached this position, and with a heavy 
weight 4,300 fathoms of line ran out, and no bottom! 

It was somewhat remarkable that about this place, within a radius of some 
few miles, many indication^ of shoal Avater had been from time to time seen and 
reported, one ha\ r ing as little as 35 fathoms on it. To one of these, called the 
“ Milne Bank,” with only 80 fathoms on it, we were now steering. It had been 
found by H. M. S. Nile, in 1864, on her homeward-bound voyage; and, under 
most favorable circumstances, soundings of 80, 90, and 100 fathoms, u fine sand 
and oaze” brought up. 

Also, about this vicinity, the currents are found very strong, and a little 
farther east very variable in direction; sometimes running with a velocity of 
two, three, and even four miles an hour to the eastward, and in some places 
forming a complete “ race.” If neither banks nor shoal-water exist here, it is 
not easy to account for this additional effort of the Gulf Stream; unless, indeed, 
it is the mass of water brought from the South Atlantic by the southeast trades, 
adding to its A^olume and to its velocity. 

Latitude 43° 30' A., longitude 38° 50' W .—At 4 p. m. on the 15th of July 
we were on the 80 fathoms! The rod and weight of 230 pounds let go, and as 
each 100 fathoms ran off* the reel it caused some excitement, as at each fathom 
it was hoped the Bank would be struck; 2,280 fathoms, 13,680 feet, ran out. 

There was no bank there. The rod brought up “ oaze” abounding in animal, 
vegetable, and mineral. 

Here the thermometers were sent down to ascertain specially if cold water 
existed at any depth. One thermometer burst at 1,400 fathoms. Water was 
brought up from a depth of 1,500 fathoms, (temperature 42°,) containing small 
and delicate particles of Algae of various bright colors, showing, probably, that 
light had penetrated to that depth; but there was not a sign of animal life. The 
temperature of the air was 77°; the temperature of the sea 73°. At 100 fathoms 
below it was 62°, or 10° less; at 300 fathoms below 55°, or 20° less; and at 1,000 
fathoms it Avas 42°, or 30° less; so that cold polar waters were passing under¬ 
neath at 200 fathoms below the surface. 

Another sounding for the Bank was tried, and 2,600 fathoms obtained; the 
rod bringing up from the same vast cemetery countless thousands ot its dead, 
and of the same character as those found a day or two previous ^at a nearly 
similar depth, except that the Globigerinw were in clusters, and in‘those frac¬ 
tured there was a hard, compact, crystallized, fine sand, 

27 


210 


* 


Notes. 

5 , «. The fractured Globigerince in this sounding were very beautiful, showing 

(Con’d.) margins of vertical crystal formation, clear as water, the fractured globes or 
cells containing, apparently, minute quartzose sand. Thinner glass-like forms 
of air-like globules, in irregular order, were probably Coccospheres. 

A small convex portion illustrated beautifully the radiating perforations or 
canals of the Foraminiferci , both direct and diagonal ; and some few irregular 
particles of diatoms, flexible and multiform. 

One young Globigerina , in which the cells were quite transparent and thin 5 
none of these have any granular deposits in their interior. Some of these also 
show the horizontal layers of each wall, added layer to layer, the outer ones 
thickening, and the external layer becomiug coated with tubercules; the interior 
are of an enamel transparent smoothness. 

The heat in the Gulf Stream was found at times very oppressive, and 
reminded # us all of the climate of Trinidad in the wet season. The thermometer 
in the shade was 82°, in the sun 96°. The warm vapor arising from the heated 
water made one feel languid, lazy, and -sleepy, and was very debilitating. 

By the temperatures obtained from actual observation at 300, 500, and 1,000 
fathoms, the waters were in all cases warmer than the corresponding depths 
north of the Gulf Stream. This is, of course, very natural, but it is as well to 
have it from actual observation; and this would argue in favor of bodies of 
warm water being brought up from the coast of Africa by the southeast trades, 
from the coast of Spain by the E. FT. E. trades, and, accumulating with those of 
the Gulf Stream ou the position assigned to the Milne Bank, assisting materially 
in adding to its velocity there. 

Stood north again for polar waters, which were soon felt by the temperature 
of the sea-surface changing in 2J hours 14°—from 72° to 58°—giving again the 
northern limits of the Gulf Stream. The air also gave proofs of this again, for 
in an hour we passed from a close uncomfortable heat to a chilly cold, which 
compelled all hands to put on warm jackets; and, as a natural consequence of 
this change, soon followed a dense fog. 

1 Ban for the Flemish Cap, on which we sounded and obtained 80 fathoms. 

Stones, feldspar, and various-colored quartz, with some few Foraminifera even 
in these shoal waters. 

Sounded midway between the north part of the Flemish Cap and the Grand 
Bank, to ascertain if there were any connection, or if they were separated by a 
deep channel; 250 fathoms was obtained, showing that it was part of the- bank, 
but having a rocky nucleus, about which the soil brought down by the ice accu¬ 
mulates; but the Polar current over it is sufficiently strong to keep the rock bare. 
On two occasions it bent and turned the iron cup of the weight in 90 fath¬ 
oms; here, at 250 fathoms, the temperature of the sea was 38°, while at the 
surface it was 50°, the air being the same. The south part of the Cap is not, 
however, united to the Banks for 700 fathoms, and no ground was obtained 
between them. 

Latitude 46°.—On the parallel of 46° latitude, at a distance of 25 miles from 
the edge of the bank, sounded in 1,000 fathoms, bringing up large quantities of 
rounded particles of quartz of various colors. 

Here a section of the slope of the bank was made, showing its ascent, form¬ 
ation, and the nature of these vast banks. From 1,000 fathoms—of colored 
quartzose sand, to 050—of silicious spicules of sponges; then to 450—green mud! 


211 


Notes. 

150—-quartzose sand, 60—stones, 55—stones, sand, and fish hones; and the lat- 5 , e. 
ter told us that we were on the Grand Banks. (Con’d.) 

Passing over and searching for the « Jesse Ryder Shoal” of 4 fathoms, 
which was found not to exist, we put over the dredge and dropped on a perfect 
colony of star-fisli ( Ophiocoma ) of all sizes, from half an inch to three inches in 
diameter. 

In a very dense fog steered for St. John’s, Newfoundland, where we arrived 
on the 24th July, to rest for a few days after the work in the Gulf Stream. It 
was cold, raw, and foggy; but we were very glad to drop anchor in its snug and 
secure harbor, free for a while from all the cares, anxieties, and perplexities 
necessarily attending deep-sea sounding. 

Having again prepared lines, instruments, and chronometers for a second 
voyage, sailed on the 27th August for the north extreme of the Gulf Stream, and 
which was reached two days afterward, the sea temperature rising suddenly 
from 53° to 61°. 

Latitude 44° 3' A., longitude 48° 7 ' W. —Here soundings were again obtained 
with rod and heavy detaching weights in 1,650 fathoms, bringing up Foramini- 
fera in all stages, whole and fragmentary, having from two to six cells or cham¬ 
bers in clusters, spherical, plate; and flat-shaped Folycystina , (diatoms,) with a 
few spicules of sponges, as well as some Coccoliths. 

Temperatures of under strata of currents were obtained, again showing that 
at 1,000 fathoms the water was 39°.5, and at only 50 fathoms below the surface 
(which was 61°) it was 43°, or 18° colder! air being 61°; another proof of the 
bare superficial Gulf Stream. 

Another cast of the lead on the supposed position of the Sainthill volcano 
quite disproved the existence of this vigia within a radius of many miles. 

We were approaching, for the second time, the Milne Bank, of 80 fathoms; 
and although 2,300 fathoms was obtained on it a short time since, yet there was 
still a hope that the second attempt would be more successful, particularly as a 
telegram had reached me from England to the effect that u there was no doubt 
of the Milne Bank, as bottom was brought up three times;” and indeed so it 
would appear. But on the 3d of September, (latitude 43° 40' N., longitude 38° 

50' W.,) the lead was again let go and 2,700 fathoms obtained, the rod bringing 
up a small but precious particle of Foraminifera. 

The towing-net gave another rich haul of Ryalaea—Atlanta and Spirilla — 
with three specimens of Nautilus cornucopia , (I believe the latter to be Opercu- 
late.) In no case could the remains of those creatures which had lived on the 
surface be found in the vast cemetery at the bottom; probably long before they 
reached so great a depth their softer parts had decomposed, and their shells 
assisted in forming one of the component parts of the ocean, carbonate of lime, 
or became food for their hungry neighbors, the mollusks. (Toward the end of 
these investigations I was compelled to alter my opinion on this subject, an 
interesting sounding having brought up from 2,000 fathoms the shells of those 
Fteropods living on its surface.—W. C.) 

It is curious to find how the different species of these delicate ocean-shells 
have their own special haunts and feeding-grounds. In one place, the Atlanta 
are taken in numbers, with scarcely any others; in another, a net full of Ryalaea 
tridenta ; then quantities of Spinosa or Fadiata ; lastly, a bag of Jauthina fray His ; 
but these latter are more generally distributed than others. All these are found 


212 


Notes. 

3 , 6. more numerous on the surface at the sun’s rising and setting, and very abund- 
(Con’d.) all t during light showers of rain. 

Near the supposed position of this bank we sounded, at short distances, for 
some days, with more than a thousand fathoms of line ; but in no case was there 
any indication of this bank. The last effort to sound in 1,000 fathoms, north of 
this supposed bank, will not easily be forgotten; it was obtained under many 
and great difficulties. The sea had risen to a fearful height in a very short 
time, which threatened to roll all the boats from the davits. My steam-cutter, 
Torch, did start. There was scarcely any standing on the deck. All the thirty- 
five men on the starboard side, while hauling the line in, lay down, or rather 
were thrown down on the line. 

Latitude 43° 30' A., longitude 38° 5 ' W. —Sounded again with heavy weights 
in 2,000 fathoms, bringing up Foraminifera in various stages of growth; and 
what gave interest and value to this sounding was the fact that icebergs had 
reached these limits, proved by the presence of a piece of stone, three-quarters 
of an inch in size, deposited undoubtedly there by a berg, and brought up in the 
valve. 


Latitude 43° 43'A, longitude 37° 47' W. —On the 5th of September a sound¬ 
ing was taken at 1,930 fathoms; the rod came up with its spring broken, but 
retaining sufficient of the bottom to show that it was down. Foraminifera , the 
usual deep-sea characteristic, appeared, mostly young and small, with transpa¬ 
rent cells; about 6 per cent, of all these are free from fracture, all the remainder 
fragments. 

Before leaving the vicinity of this supposed bank, the temperatures here 
obtained, with new and delicate thermometers, at 2,000 fathoms, was 42°—rather 
a higher temperature than expected. The air was 68°, the sea-surface 69° ; 
while, at 100 fathoms, it had fallen 10°, and at 400, 20°! At 1,000 fathoms it 
was 43°, after which it fell but 1° in 1,000 fathoms, (showing a great uniformity 
of temperature after the first 500 fathoms.) 

Great quantities of Salpce and Medusae came up entangled with the line, 
doubtless caught in its quick descent of 500 fathoms in 3| minutes, (or equal 14 
feet in 1 second, which equals 1 mile in 6 minutes.) Their orange-colored stom¬ 
achs, situated in the center of the transparent gelatinous sacs, came in quite 
perfect on the line. 

Latitude 43° 39' A., longitude 36° 46' W. —On the 6th September we gave 
our departing and final cast of the lead in this vicinity, getting 2,060 fathoms, 
the rod bringing up Foraminifera , small stones, 'and some Diatoms. 

We were now leaving the regions of the Globigerince and lime-formations, 
changing them for those of silicious deposit. Nearly all, in this last sounding, 
were Diatoms , with but few Globigerince. A thermometer was sent down to 
2,000 fathoms, and proved the last temperature at the same depth, showing 42°.5. 

To complete a series of 100-fathom temperatures, advantage was taken of a 
fine day with smooth water—both indispensable requisites in sounding for tem¬ 
peratures, as the smallest jerk or vibration moves the indices and the reading is 
destroyed, the results being only deceptive. The thermometer went down to 
1,500 fathoms, and in no instance did it show less than 42°.5, fully proving the 
high temperatures obtained on former occasions, and this would prove the 
entire absence of an under Polar current here; and, further, that the waters of 
the Gulf Stream here mixed with other waters, decreasing thereby its strong 


213 


easterly set, which was here found, on many occasions, to be variable. The 5 , 6. 
temperature of the surface was 71°. (Con’d.) 

From the authority of a few scattered observations, it has been asserted 
that the water of the ocean, at a depth of 12 feet, was of a higher temperature than 
at the surface. This was proved to be correct, although remarkable, by 45 care¬ 
fully-obtained observations, between Halifax and this position. Of these 45 
observations, 26 are warmer, 10 are colder, and 9 have the same temperature. 

The warmer are in favor of the colder, 16° in the whole, but in no one instance 
greater than 1°.5; and the greatest and most constant are noticeable to the east 
of the Milne Bank, after the rapid current of the Gulf Stream had been passed. 

In the Pacific, off the west coast of America, (the Isalcos Mountains,) the 
temperature at 12 or 15 feet below the surface has been found to be 10° or 
11° higher. This, I presume, is caused simply by excessive evaporation, as I 
have often found there the difference between the wet and dry-bulb hygrometer 
to be 9°, and on one occasion 11°. 

Latitude 46° N r longitude 29° 40' TP.—On the 9th of September, being on the 
position of a vigia, a very satisfactory sounding of 1,650 fathoms was obtained: 
first disproving the existence of such a danger, and secondly bringing up the 
most interesting and remarkable specimen of the bottom, showing that those 
minute creatures which live on the surface do assist in forming the bottom of the 
ocean; Foraminiferci and JDiatomacce surrounding six dead Hyalaea shells, all per¬ 
fect. These, to have been taken on the bottom, must have been dead, and for a 
valve the size of a shilling to have entrapped six of these, they must have been 
numerous indeed. The whole area of the six was greater than the valve itself; 
they must, therefore, have been in such quantities as to overlap one another. 
Hyalaea were also taken on the surface in the towing-net; so that here was a 
successful illustration that these lived on the surface, and were buried, after 
their period of existence, on the bottom. 

This was a shoal sounding compared with those around it, and silicious ani¬ 
mal formations now became more numerous; the Coccospheres and other delicate 
forms exactly resembling the Nautilus , chambered, but devoid of the syphuncle 
by which the latter elevates and depresses itself at pleasure, by exhausting or 
filling its chambers with water. Thirteen chambers were counted in one form. 

In this sounding, also, animal remains were seen, and could hardly be mis¬ 
taken ; the feelers, or radiating processes from the tubercles of the canals, were 
regularly radiating, and at the point where the chambers intersect was a mass * 
of minute spawn-like globules. 

Inorganic fragments of some size were also seen, having a smooth, concave 
impression, intersected with dark lines. In no instance are the shells of the 
Hyalaea taken alive on the surface, so large as those found dead on the bottom; 
so that it may be possibly inferred that they have died at their full growth, at 
the limit of their permitted existence. 

A very interesting and valuable sounding was made about 180 miles E. K E. 
of the last, in 1,180 fathoms, showing a less depth of water, by 200 fathoms, than 
in any part of the Atlantic, (not approximate to the shore.) A small portion of 
the bottom “oaze” came up, attached to a pig of ballast which was the weight 
used on this occasion. 

Latitude 47° IB N., longitude 23° 14' W— On the 12th September the favor¬ 
able weather, with a dead calm, induced us to sound, and a cup-lead of 112 


214 


Notes. 

5 , 6. pounds reached the bottom at 2,000 fathoms, bringing up a full cup of pale 
(Con’d.) cream color u oaze” Infusoria , like ice-cream, and quite as cold. In this sound¬ 
ing were many-shaped and various-formed Olobigerinw , hemispherical and glob¬ 
ular; also many spheroidal organisms, in one specimen of which we counted 
thirteen chambers. 

A fractured portion of a Olobigerina cell showed that the interior wall was 
formed of perpendicular, transparent, four-sided cells, while the exterior was 
perforated by narrow canals, running perpendicular to the frame. The temper¬ 
ature at that depth was still 42°. 

Our sounding had now ceased, and this novel and interesting work had 
finished. 

It is worthy of remark that the general character of all these thirteen sound¬ 
ings, varying in depth from 80 to 2,700 fathoms, spreading over an area of 
upwards of 10,000 square miles, from Sable Island to the Azores, shows a 
remarkable uniformity, both in respect of temperature and sea-bottom. One 
chief object throughout was to ascertain if, in any of these organized forms, ani¬ 
mal life still existed. They were placed, for fourteen days, under a powerful 
microscope, and in no one instance was either animal life or animal remains 
visible, except in the two doubtful instances recorded. Therefore it may be 
safely concluded that these minute creatures do not live where found, at the 
bottom of the ocean. 

Hundreds of the animal organisms of Foraminifera, Olobigerinw, Coccoliths , 
&c., with which the soft light-brown and yellow mud abounded, were, after 
being diluted with clear water, separated from the muddy particles and broken 
under the lens with a finely-pointed penknife. It required some force to break 
them, and the sharp shock and cracking was plainly perceptible; in no single 
instance was life or movement visible. 

The mud, when dry, is either of a pale yellow marl, light-brown, or greenish- 
brown color; the former containing chiefly Olobigerinw or calcareous formations, 
the second silicious or Diatomacw, and the last silicious spicules of sponges. All 
are apparently soft mud until rubbed between the fingers, when gritty particles 
are detected. These are the Olobigerinw, in great variety of shapes and num¬ 
bers, some being formed in concentric layers round a transparent center. 

In the deepest waters and most distant from land were the greatest num¬ 
bers of perfect specimens of Olobigerinw found, in soundings 12 and 13; and as 
‘the water decreased in depth and neared irregularities, so they became frag 
mentary. These facts suggest that, either at the lesser depth some wave-move- 
■* ment, or, may be, current, fractured these delicate organisms, or that their cases 
were broken by mollusks, or other devouring agents for the softer matter in the 
interior, and the shelly portions then allowed to descend to the bottom. 

With many experiments in water, it was found that not only were the 
Olobigerinw of much more specific gravity than the water, but that they sunk 
with a rapidity truly wonderful and invariably with the convex side downward, 
and in that position (which was contrary to which they lived) remained so. 

In passing the soundings a second time under the microscope, some new 
forms were detected, which will be seen in the drawings; and these are, for the 
most part, of silicious formation, some having a thin, irregular, and broken coat¬ 
ing of lime; others as transparent as glass. 


215 


Notes. 

The thin membrane-lining in some of the Globigerinw were also noticed, but 5 , 
these could hardly be the remains of the once living animal. (Con’d.) 

Some recent Globigerince , which appeared discolored, (a light red,) were 
broken 5 but no minute granules were inside. 

In the second examination of the Globigerince , I was compelled to alter my 
views with regard to the rounded aperture, (which I thought may be formed by 
an annelid,) but which I found in every form, larger or smaller, according to age 
and size. In some instances the apertures were in the two last chambers, the 
lips of which were smooth and rounded oh with a transparent glass-like finish. 

The CHAIRMAN, in inviting a discussion on the papers, remarked that 
there were two distinct matters for consideration. One was the hydrography of 
the Gulf Stream, and the other the general question of submarine geography. 

Both subjects were of great interest, and he hoped they would both receive eluci¬ 
dation that- evening. He was afraid that many of the Fellows, like himself, had 
so grown up in the belief that the temperature of our country was affected by 
the Gulf Stream, that they would find a difficulty in doubting it. Nevertheless, 

Mr. Findlay’s arguments tended to shake that belief. Still, he should like to 
hear the cause of the peculiarly mild temperature of the West of England 
explained. If it were due merely to currents of wind, he would have thought 
the same mildness might have been perceptible far more inland than it was. He 
hoped that, as Professor Huxley, one of the first authorities in England on all 
questions of submarine animal life, was present, he would be kind enough to 
state his views with reference to these interesting forms of animal life, some of 
which had been brought up from a depth of 2,700 fathoms. Submarine geog¬ 
raphy was not merely interesting in that point of view, it was also a practical 
question. Geographers ought to obtain as accurate a knowledge of the surface 
of the globe under the sea as they possess of the surface of the globe above the 
sea. The deep-sea soundings that were now being carried on in different parts 
of the globe had the object of ultimately arriving at such a knowledge. It was 
not until we possessed this knowledge that we should be able to traverse the 
oceans with telegraph cables, for there was no reason why we should not lay 
down submarine lines in all directions with the -same facility that we now- 
employed aerial telegraphs. As a contribution to this, he regarded Lieutenant 
Chimmo’s paper as meriting great consideration. 

Captain SHERARD OSBORN, R. N., said Lieutenant Chimmo’s paper was 
a most valuable addition to our knowledge. Previous to his soundings off the 
southern extremity of the Newfoundland Bank, the Gulf Stream, in that quar¬ 
ter, was reported to be unfathomable. Lieutenant China mo had sounded to the 
bottom on every occasion he attempted but one, and then probably the bight of 
his line was carried away by currents. Moreover, by careful observation, he 
had disposed of a very alarming feature which was said to exist in mid-ocean— 
the Milne Bank, named after the gallant officer who was said to have discovered 
it. It was a pleasant thing to be assured that no such bank existed, and for 
this they were indebted to Lieutenant Chimmo. He had, moreover, confirmed 
our previous knowledge respecting the level of the ocean bed, between the coasts 
of Europe and those of America. We might take the mean depth to be about 
2,000 fathoms, across the North Atlantic Ocean. And he had disposed of the 
theory that the Gulf Stream had an enormous scooping effect, wearing a deep 


216 


Xotes. 

5, o. furrow in the sea-bottom. As Mr. Findlay had shown, its depth might be lim- 

(Con’d.) ited, as far as the warm water indicated. But lie himself did not see why the 
stream should be limited to warm water—why it should not combine both hot 
and cold. He still believed in the existence of the Gulf Stream, from the enor¬ 
mous quantity of wood and drift that he had noticed far away to the north; and 
he believed that the Gulf Stream did ameliorate our climate very considerably; 
that the mildness of our climate was owing, not merely to the elfects of warm 
air, but to the effects of water of a high temperature as well. There were very 
few sailors acquainted with the sea between the Azores and the Land’s End, 
who had not noticed tropical species of fish accompany drift-timber there. Wher¬ 
ever we found the dolphin and other fishes of warm seas, we might be sure that 
the temperature of the water Was pretty much the same that it was in the trop¬ 
ics. TJien there were many other streams of a similar character in different 
parts of the globe. There was that remarkable stream on the east coast of 
Africa which flowed from Cape Guardafui for 2,000 miles, almost into the har¬ 
bor of Bombay. That had recently been explored by an officer in our service, 
and he had obtained soundings throughout its whole length. There was a simi¬ 
lar stream, called the Black Stream, between China and Japan, which was just 
as marked at the edge as the Gulf Stream. Beyond this there was little or 
nothing known of it; he did not believe it had been sounded, or that its limits 
had been marked. All these streams ran parallel to each other, nearly from 
southwest to northeast; they formed three great oceanic streams, as it were, 
which flowed through the wastes-of ocean with outlines as marked as the Mis¬ 
sissippi or the Orinoco. Here was an immense field laid open to the investigation 
of the hydrographer; and he only hoped that members of his profession, while 
the sword was laid aside, would, encouraged by our Society, throw their enter¬ 
prise and intelligence into so promising a field of discovery and usefulness. 

Professor HUXLEY said no naturalist, who had looked broadly at his sub¬ 
ject, could fail to be greatly interested in physical geography; no man could 
have a conception of the bearing of a great many most important biological facts 
who had not paid very considerable attention to this department of science, and 
to all those great features of oceans and rivers which were either the causes or 
•the effects of the phenomena of physical geography. He proposed, therefore, to 
make remarks on the two subjects submitted to their consideration that evening— 
the Life of the Sea-bottom, and the Gulf Stream. 

With regard to the deep-sea soundings which Lieutenant Chimmo had 
described, speaking with every respect for the zeal and high intelligence which 
that gentleman had displayed in his observations, and knowing partially how diffi¬ 
cult it was to make such observations while at sea, he still might be permitted to 
remark that they made no substantial addition to what had already been estab¬ 
lished by a considerable number of observers, with regard to the character of 
the Atlantic sea-bottom. In some respects he ventured to think—having been 
favored by the Hydrographer to the Admiralty with the particular soundings 
that Lieutenant Chimmo had brought home—that he had not quite clearly inter¬ 
preted the facts. There could be no doubt that animal remains were contained in 
a very large portion of the Globigerinw shells. By proper methods of treatment, 
by dissolving them in acids, you may get out the soft bodies. Not only so, but 
Professor Frankland, to whom he had submitted portions of such soundings, had 
determined, by the process of organic analysis, the existence of more than 1£ 


217 


Notes. 

per cent, of organic matter in these soundings; which 1J per cent, of organic 5 , «. 
matter could be clearly identified by the microscope in two shapes—in part as ( Con ’ d -) 
Globigerince shells, in part as a confused network of simple organisms, distinct 
from the Globigerince —one of the most remarkable of simple organisms, to which 
he had given the name of Bathybius. That simple organism, one of the simplest 
forms of animal life, we now know covered the whole area of the North Atlantic 
in all the regions that have yet been surveyed. The very admirable soundings 
in the Indian Ocean which had been made by Captain Shorthand, to which 
Captain Sherard Osborn referred, had enabled him to extend his knowledge of 
that organism. From the Arabian Gulf, at a depth of 2,800 fathoms, along the 
whole of the east coast of Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope, and along the 
west coast until it joined the North Atlantic again, he could trace, throughout 
the whole extent, at these prodigious depths, that that sea-bottom was covered 
with a network of organic matter. There could be no sort of doubt that living 
animals exist at the bottom of the deepest seas yet explored. How they lived 
there, how they acquired their store of food, was one of the most curious ques¬ 
tions of organic chemistry, one which we could not solve at present. But it was 
the fact that there were two distinct constituents in this Atlantic mud: one of 
them like the organisms which he had described and the Globigerince living on 
the sea-bottom, and the other siliceous remains of organisms living near the sur¬ 
face, and which only reached the bottom after they died, for their skeletons had 
sunk down through the great depth of sea-water and mixed with the living 
creatures at the bottom. He looked upon those two results as now definitely 
acquired to science. He might remark, perhaps, in reference to something which 
was let fall by Captain Osborn, that, as far as lie had been able to examine the 
deep-sea soundings from the Arabian Gulf, the character of the bottom was, in 
the main, very similar to that of the great Atlantic plateau. Over most parts 
of it the sticky, adhesive Globigerince mud exists in large proportion, and in cer¬ 
tain parts Globigerince are replaced by an excessively fine and attenuated sand. 

But in all the specimens which had been brought up by Lieutenant Chimmo 
there was an entire absence of everything but the very finest and softest calca¬ 
reous or siliceous matter. 

With regard to the hydrographic question of the extent of the Gulf Stream, 
he had listened with great attention to the facts and argument which had been 
brought forward by Mr. Findlay, and he must confess he had arrived at two 
results unfavorable to the purport ot the paper. The first was that he did not 
find in the statements brought forward any facts not to be met with in the works 
of Maury; and still more particularly in that excellent essay upon the Gulf 
Stream which was published a year or two ago by Mr. Kohl, and to which he 
would recommend every one who took a particular interest in the subject for a 
perfect plethora of facts connected with the phenomena of the Gulf Stream. The 
second conclusion was that the arguments which had been brought forward did 
not seem to justify the important conclusion arrived at. Indeed, he thought a 
considerable amount of fallacy lurked in those arguments. Mr. Findlay drew 
attention to the very small extent of the Gulf Stream between the peninsula of 
Florida and Cuba; and he asked the question, how was it credible that so small 
a volume of water as this should give rise to the great mass of warm water 
which was found taking a northeastern and easterly course in the northern part 

28 


218 


Notes. 

5 , «. of the Atlantic? Now, if the velocity of the water which passed through the 

(Con’d.) Straits of Florida were the same as the velocity of the water in the region of 
Newfoundland, that query would have considerable force. But it seemed to 
him to fail, unless we took into account the fact that the velocity of the water 
passing through the Straits of Florida was three or four times greater than that 
of the stream in the North Atlantic. These facts regarding the Gulf Stream 
had been well established by the careful observations and surveys of the Ameri¬ 
can Navy; and he must say it was a disgrace to this country that, with our vast 
naval resources, we could not produce anything to compare with these great 
American surveys. But, leaving that aside as a mere incident in the question, 
he would say that the consideration of relative velocity is one of great import¬ 
ance in view of the difficulties put before us. Another argument which he 
would bring against Mr. Findlay’s conclusions was based upon the very admira¬ 
ble map of the Gulf Stream, published last year by the Hydrographer of the 
Admiralty. Every one who knew that map would say it was a document of 
extreme value, a firsGrate authority; and in that map the currents continuous 
with those of the Gulf Stream were traceable, with diminished velocity, to the 
northern points of the coast of Scotland. He did not tliiuk any one who looked 
at that map, and traced out the gradual diminution of that stream, could have 
any doubt that he was dealing with a phenomenon that had one and the same 
cause. Another argument quoted by Mr. Findlay from another author was so 
singularly at variance with what we knew of ordinary physical laws, and with 
what was very well known with regard to the Gulf Stream in particular, that it 
could not stand its ground for a moment. It had been suggested that this 
easterly trend of the Gulf Stream was due to the Earth in the northern part of 
America shunting it on as it turned round. 

Mr. FINDLAY. It was Mr. Leighton Jordan’s argument. 

Professor HUXLEY. The argument of Mr. Leighton Jordan appeared to be 
that the water, not partaking fully ot the movement, of the Earth, was, so to 
speak, shunted on to the eastward by the action of the eastern side of North 
America. In any case, an explanation of that kind could not possibly apply. 
We all knew, as a matter of physics, that the water at the Equator partook of 
the motion of the Earth at the Equator. It consequently had a greater velocity 
from west to east than the surface of the Earth in more northern latitudes. We 
also knew, in accordance with the ordinary laws of physics, that if that mass of 
water were transferred northward, it would, for a considerable time, keep its 
primitive velocity. The consequence would be that, as it traveled from west to 
east faster than the Earth was traveling in a corresponding latitude, it would 
trend away to the eastward; so that, so far from the land forcing the water to 
the eastward, it was the water that trended to the eastward, leaving the Earth 
behind it. 

Mr. FINDLAY thought his arguments had been misunderstood. He had 
carefully calculated the velocity of the Gulf Stream at its initial point, and the 
amount of water carried forward day by day. The velocity was exceedingly 
well known. Its annual mean and its monthly mean were also very well known. 
The stream took 25 days to reach Nantucket, 50 days to reach the Newfound¬ 
land Bank, and 200 days to reach the western coast of Europe. From its known 
sectional area between Florida and Cuba, he contended it was impossible such a 
stream could spread over the whole of western Europe up to Iceland, as far as 


219 


the northern coast of Norway and Spitzbergen, and to other places where there * 5 6 ’ 
was a comparatively mild climate. He repeated, such a body of water passing (Con’d.) 
from the Gulf could not produce those effects on the climate of the whole of 
western Europe without being aided by some other causes. Then there was the 
fact that the warmest point of the Gulf Stream was on its western edge, the 
warmest water being pressed upon the American coast, along which the Polar 
Current was running south. He wanted to know why that was! why the 
warmth should not be diffused more to the eastward? It was ouly a suggestion 
of Mr. Leighton Jordan that the axial rotation of the Earth might account for 
the phenomenon in some degree. But, apart from that, he would contend that 
that small body of water would never cover the whole of tbe west coast of 
Europe; it was the great winds which blew from the southwest in that part of 
the Atlantic that produced a drift toward the coasts of Europe. Moreover, 
there was the drift of water roimd the Bahama Bank, which joined the Gulf 
Stream. The Gulf Stream, in fact, could form only a fractional portion of the 
circulation. 

The CHAIRMAN, in closing the discussion, said that the great point was 
to bring men of science and practice together, for truth was elicited by the 
efforts of the two. He was much indebted to Professor Huxley for giving him 
the chance of still indulging in those ideas that he had always entertained with 
regard to the effect of the Gulf Stream upon our climate. He must say he did 
not think that Mr. Findlay had absolutely dissipated that belief. 

[In the sitting of the Royal Geographical Society, of May 10,1869, the following letter of Rear- 
Admiral Irminger was read, hearing upon the subject of the above discussion. (Proceedings vol. 
xiii, p. 226.)—Hydrographic Office.] 

Copenhagen, April 21,1869. 

I have read with the greatest interest the discussions in the Royal Geo¬ 
graphical Society, at the Meeting, February 8 , between Mr. Findlay, Captain 
Sherard Osborn, R. N., and Professor Huxley, concerning the Gulf Stream. 

For nearly thirty years I have, partly myself, partly through naval friends 
and intelligent ship masters, who with me take interest in oceanic currents, 
made observations on currents and temperatures, chiefly of the Northern Atlan¬ 
tic Ocean. I hate always, nearly every year, furnished them with well-corrected 
thermometers; and these observations on the water which comes from more 
southerly and more heated parts of the Atlantic, and also on the waters of what 
I believe to be the Gulf Stream, I take the liberty of submitting to the Royal 
Geographical Society. 

The chart which I send [which was exhibited to the Meeting] shows the 
temperatures between Shetland and Greenland, and the accordance existing 
between the many annual observations in my possession, of which I have only 
marked the temperatures for a few years. 

According to these observations it can be said, with certainty, that the cur¬ 
rent in the Northern Atlantic flows toward the north, even up to the Icy Sea. 

In a treatise on currents of the ocean (Havets Strbinninger; Nyt Archivfor 
Sovsesenet, 1853) I have published the observations, made with all possible accu¬ 
racy, in one part of the North Atlantic, by seven of our men-of-war, provided 
with superior chronometers and other instruments; and a medium of these 
observations in different years gave: 


220 


Notes. 

5 , g. Between 59° 30' and Gl° 30 / latitude N., and 2° and 6° longitude W. of 
(Con’d.) Greenwich, in 17 days,* the current was found 4.7 nautical miles per day, N. 72° 
E. true. 

Between 60° O' and 62° O' latitude N., and G° O' and 10° 0' longitude W. of 
Greenwich, in 11 days, 2.5 nautical miles per day, N. G0° E. true. 

Between 60° 30' and 62° 30' latitude N., and 10° O' and 14° O' longitude W. of 
Greenwich, in 18 days, 0.8 nautical mile per day, N. 32° E. true. 

Between Gl° O' and G3° O' latitude N., and 14° 0' and 18° O' longitude W. of 
Greenwich, in 25 days, 3.1 nautical miles per day, N. 47° E. true. 

Between 62° latitude N. and the south coast of Iceland, and 18° and 23° lon¬ 
gitude W. of Greenwich, (nearly the longitude of Cape Beikianas, the southwest 
cape of Iceland,) in 32 days, 1.91 nautical mile per day, N. 33° W. true. 

Between Fairhill and Greenland the weather was frequently unfavorable 
for observations for correcting the longitude, but still a constant drift, or slow 
current of the ocean to the north was observed, and the mean of observations 
between 32° and 39° W. of Greenwich gave 3.2 nautical miles per day, N. This 
drift of the ocean in a northerly direction toward the coast of Greenland is 
besides observable in the temperature of the water. 

This drift, or slow current, in the Atlantic is the cause why the harbors of 
Norway, even farther than North Cape, and as far as the Fiord of Varanger, are 
accessible for navigation during the whole year; just as the warm current, 
which passes Cape Beikianas and runs to the northward along the western 
shores of Iceland, is the cause of the south and west coasts of this island being 
clear of ice, so that, even during the severest winters, ships may go to Havne 
Fiord and other places in the Faxe Bay of Iceland, where they always will be 
sure of finding open sea. If this current to the north in the Atlantic did not 
exist, the ice from the sea around Spitzbergen would float down to far more 
southern latitudes than is now the case; and certainly the coasts of Norway, as 
well as the sea between Shetland and Iceland, would frequently be filled with 
ice from the Icy Sea, and the influence of the iee would then be felt on the 
climate of the neighboring coasts. But this is not the case; and we know that 
the ice from the Icy Sea (Greenland-ice) only can force its way to the southward 
between Iceland and Greenland, along the east coast of Greenland, rounding 
Cape Farewell, and afterward passing Labrador, Newfoundland, and farther 
south. 

Along the north coast of Iceland the current is usually to the eastward, and 
along the east coast predominating to south; and I think these currents may be 
considered as eddies of the principal currents in the Icy Sea and the Atlantic. 

The current and the ice-drift of the Greenland-ice are sometimes so consid¬ 
erable, that not only the sea between Cape North of Iceland and Greenland is 
blocked up with ice, but it also strikes against the north coast of Iceland 
between Cape North and the Bay of Skayestrand, and then, favored by the said 
eddies, closes the north and east coast of Iceland entirely. On the 24th of May, 
1840, this ice w r as met with even about 100 nautical miles from the east coast. 
Still this ice never remains on these coasts later than the month of August, but 
generally leaves earlier, and then swings round in a northeast direction to the 
Icy Sea again. 


I reckon a day = 24 hours. 




221 


Notes. 


The temperature of the sea seems to prove that the warmer current of the s, <>. 
Atlantic approaches as well the east as the north coast of Iceland more in sum- ( Con ’ d -) 
mer than earlier in the year. 

It happens, notwithstanding, that a small part of that ice which now and 
then incloses the east coast is, by gales from north and northeast, carried to the 
south shore of the island; but as soon as it appears here it is carried away again 
with the northwesterly current from the Atlantic, passing Cape Reikianas, and 
thus onward to the other ice, constantly blocking up the east coast of Green¬ 
land. 

The inclosed description* of the currents and ice-drifts near Iceland will 
give more detailed information for those who may wish it; but I must observe 
expressly that the ice which now and then incloses the above-mentioned coasts 
of Iceland never is met with in lower latitudes, as would be the case if the cur¬ 
rent or drift of the Atlantic were not toward the north. 

By studying the temperature of the North Atlantic between Shetland and 
Cape Farewell, it will be observed that streaks of warmer water are found here, 
some of which I have indicated on the appended sketch. These warmer streaks 
are not to be found every year in the same longitude, and I think they have 
their origin from the Gulf Stream, which has retained this higher temperature, 
and that these warmer streaks, sometimes met with more easterly, or at others 
more westerly, possibly may be caused by the pressure of the current coming 
from Labrador, passing Newfoundland, &c., where this current influences more 
or less the limits of the Gulf Stream, causing its heated water to be inclined 
sometimes more easterly, and at other times more westerly. Severe gales might 
likewise possibly have an influence on this deviation. 

These warmer streaks, combined with the different tropical products con¬ 
stantly thrown on the shores of Norway, the Faroe Isles, Iceland, Greenland, 

&c., I believe also to be a proof that the Gulf Stream sends its waters far to the 
north. 

Among the tropical products frequently found is the bean of the Mimosa 
scandens , one of which I send you, and which I found on the shores of Iceland. 

Near Husavik (North Iceland) I once picked up on the beach so large and fine 
a specimen of this mimosa that I had a snuff-box made of it. 

The inclosed description of the currents will show that Captain Sodring, in 
the Fox, (the same vessel which Captain Sir Leopold McClintock commanded on 
the Franklin expedition,) on the 7th of March, I860, in G6° 21' latitude N., and 
1 ° 26' longitude W., found the water on its surface, after the long winter’s influ¬ 


ence in these cold climates, still at 4° R., or 41° F. 

With all these facts it appears to me that the Gulf Stream can be followed 
through the Northern Atlantic, even up to the Icy Sea. 

I have limited myself to the above short report, as many distinguished 
Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society are so well acquainted with the cur¬ 
rents of the ocean that I find it superfluous to add more circumstantial details 
concerning this matter. 

Most respectfully, 

C. IRMINGER, 

Rear-Admiral Royal Danish Navy. 


*“Stromninger og Iisdrift ved Island:” a printed pamphlet, now in tbe library of the 
Society.—[E d.] 





222 


Notes. 

7, s. 7 and 8 Nature, March 24, 1870, p. 540; and March 10, 1870, p. 490. 

[These are references to a lecture delivered by Dr. YV. B. Carpenter at the British Royal 
Institution. As this lecture bears throughout on the system of North Atlantic currents, it is 
added entire. A table of the deep-sea souudings and temperatures discussed in the lecture will 
be found on page 73 of this volume.— Hydrographic Office.] 

On the Temperature and Animal Life of the Beep Sea. By Br. William B. Car¬ 
penter. 

I. 

The present discourse embodies the most important general results obtained 
by the exploration of the deep sea in the neighborhood of the British Isles, 
carried on, during the summer of 1869, in H. M. surveying vessel Porcupine, 
with the view of completing and extending the inquiries commenced in the 
Lightning expedition in 18G8. 

The expedition of the Porcupine was divided into three cruises. The first 
of these, which was placed under the scientific charge of Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, 
F. B. S., accompanied by Mr. W. L. Carpenter as chemical assistant, commenced 
from Galway near the end of May, and concluded at Belfast at the beginning of 
July. It was directed in the first instance to the southwest, then to the west, 
and finally to the northwest as far as the Bockall Bank. The greatest depth at 
which temperature-sounding and dredging were carried on in this cruise was 
1,476 fathoms; and these operations, through the excellent equipment of the 
Porcupine and the skill of her commander, Captain Calver, were so successfully 
performed, that it was confidently anticipated that still greater depths might be 
reached with an equally satisfactory result. . 

The second cruise, which was under the scientific charge of Professor Wyville 
Thomson, F. B. S., with Mr. Hunter as chemical assistant, was consequently 
directed to the nearest point at which a depth of 2,500 fathoms was known to 
exist, viz, the northern extremity of the Bay of Biscay, about 250 miles to the 
west of Ushant. In this cruise temperature-sounding and dredging were carried 
down to the extraordinary depth of 2,345 fathoms, or nearly three miles—a 
depth nearly equal to the height of Mont Blanc, and exceeding, by more than 
500 fathoms, that from which the Atlantic cable was recovered. This sea bed, 
on which the pressure of the superincumbent water is nearly three tons for every 
square inch, was found to support an ablmdance of animal life; about one and 
one-half hundred-weight of “Atlantic mud,” chiefly consisting of Globigerince , 
having been brought up in the dredge, together with various types of higher ani¬ 
mals, Echinoderms, Annelids, Crustaceans, and Mollusks; among them a new 
Crinoid, referable, like the Bhizocrinus —whose discovery by Mr. Sars, jr., had 
been the starting point of the present inquiry—to the Apiocrinite type which 
flourished during the oolitic period. 

The third cruise was under the scientific charge of the speaker, with Mr. P. 
H. Carpenter as chemical assistant; but lie had the great advantage of being 
accompanied by his colleague, Professor Wyville Thomson, who, as in the Light¬ 
ning expedition, took the entire superintendence of the dredging operations. The 
object of this cruise, which commenced in the middle of August and terminated 
in the middle of September, was a more thorough exploration of the area between 
the north of Scotland and the Faroe Islands, which had been found in the Light¬ 
ning expedition to afford results of peculiar interest in regard alike to the ine- 


223 


Notes. 

quality of temperature and to tlie distribution of animal life on the sea-bed, 7, 8 . 
which here ranges between the comparatively shallow depths of from 350 to 650 ( Con ’ d -) 
fathoms, the last named being the greatest depth to which dredging had been 
carried in 1868. 

The weather, during nearly the whole of the Porcupine expedition, was as 
. favorable to its work, as during the greater part of the Lightning expedition it 
had been unfavorable; and the results obtained not only far exceeded the most . 
sanguine expectations of those who had promoted it, but may be said, without 
exaggeration, to be such as no previous scientific exploration of so limited an 
extent and duration is known to have yielded. 

The results of the temperature-soundings will be first stated, with their 
bearing on the doctrines advanced in the former discourse, as probable inferences 
from the observations made during the Lightning expedition. These observa¬ 
tions indicated that two very different submarine climates exist in the deep 
channel which lies E. N. E. and W. S. W. between the north of Scotland and 
the Faroe Banks; a minimum temperature of 32° having been registered in some 
parts of this channel, while in other parts of it, at the like depths, and with the 
same surface temperature, (never varying much from 52°,) the minimum tem¬ 
perature registered was never lower than 46°, thus showing a difference of 14°. 

It could not be positively asserted that these minima are the bottom-temperatures 
of the areas in which they respectively occur ; but it was argued that they must 
almost necessarily be so: first, because it is highly improbable that sea water at 
32° should overlie water at any higher temperature which is specifically lighter 
than itself, unless the two strata have a motion in opposite directions, sufficiently 
rapid to be recognizable; and, secondly, because the nature of the animal life found 
on the bottom of the cold area which consists of quartzose sand, and including 
volcanic particles, exhibited a marked correspondence with its presumed reduc¬ 
tion of temperature; while the sea-bed of the warm area is essentially composed 
of Globigerina- mud, and the animal life which it supports is characteristic of the 
warmer-tempered seas. 

This conclusion, it is obvious, would not be invalidated by any error arising 
from the effect of pressure on the bulbs of the thermometers; since, although the 
actual minima might be, as was then surmised, from 2° to 4° below the recorded 
minima, the difference between temperatures taken at the same or nearly the 
same depths would remain unaffected. 

The existence in the cold area of a minimum temperature of 32°, with-a 
fauna essentially boreal, could not, it was argued, be accounted for in any other 
way than by the supposition of an under-current of. Polar water coming down 
from the north or northeast; while, conversely, the existence in the warm area 
of a minimum temperature of 46°, extending to 500 or 600 fathoms’ depth, in 
the latitude of 60°, (being at least 8° above its isotherm,) together with the 
warmer-temperate character of its fauna, seemed equally indicative of a flow of 
equatorial waters from the south or southwest. 

It was further urged that, if the existence of two such different submarine cli¬ 
mates in close proximity can only be accounted for on the hypothesis of an Arctic 
Stream and an Equatorial Stream running side by side, (the latter also spreading 
over the former, in consequence of its lower specific gravity,) these streams are to 
be regarded (like the Gulf Stream) as particular cases of a great general oceanic 
circulation, which is continually bringing the water cooled-down in the Polar 


224 


Notes. 

7, 8. regions into tlie deepest parts of tlie Equatorial ocean-basins, while the water 

(Con’d.) heated in the Equatorial regions moves toward the Poles, on or near the surface. 
Such a circulation was long since pointed out to be as much a physical necessity 
as that interchange of air between the Equatorial and Polar regions which has 
so large a share in the production of winds $ but, while physical geographers 
remained under the dominant idea that the temperature of the deep sea is every¬ 
where 39°, they could not fully recognize its importance. 

These doctrines have been fully tested by the very numerous and careful 
temperature-soundings taken in the Porcupine expedition; and the result has 
been not merely to confirm them in every particular—so that they may now take 
rank as established facts—but also to show that a temperature 2J° below the 
freezing-point of fresh water may prevail over the sea-bed in a region far removed 
from the polar, and that even this extreme reduction is by no means antagonistic 
to the existence of animal life in great variety and abundance. 

All the temperature-soundings of the Porcupine expedition were taken with 
thermometers protected from the effects~of pressure by the inclosure of the bulb 
of each instrument in an outer bulb, sealed around the neck of the tube, about 
three-fourths of the intervening space being filled with spirit, but a small vacu¬ 
ity being left, by which any reduction in the capacity of the outer bulb is pre¬ 
vented from communicating pressure to the inner. This plan of construction, 
which was suggested by Professor Williarn A. Miller, has been so successfully carried 
into practice by Mr. Casella, that thermometers thus protected have been sub¬ 
jected to a pressure of three tons to the square inch, in a testing-machine devised 
for the purpose, without undergoing more than a very slight elevation, of which 
a part, at least, is attributable to the heat given out by the compression of the 
water in which they were immersed; while the very best thermometers of the 
ordinary construction were affected by the same pressure to the extent of 8° or 
10 °, the elevation in some instruments reaching as much as 50° or G0°. Two of 
these protected Miller-Casella thermometers were used in each observation, and 
they always agreed within a fraction of a degree. The same pair were used 
throughout the expedition, and notwithstanding that they were used for 166 
separate observations, in which they traveled up and down nearly 100 miles, 
they came back in perfectly good order, a result mainly due to the care with 
which they were handled by Captain Calver. It may-be affirmed, with great 
confidence, that the temperatures which they indicated were correct within 1°, 
(E.,) an approximation quite near enough for the scientific requirements of 
the case. 

In order to connect the work of the Porcupine with that of the Lightning 
expedition, it will be desirable to commence with the third cruise of the former, 
in which a detailed survey was made of the area traversed in the preceding year 
by the latter. In this cruise bottom-soundings were taken at 36 different sta¬ 
tions, at depths varying from 100 to 767 fathoms; of these 17 were in the cold 
area and 14 in the warm, while 5 exhibited intermediate temperatures, in accord¬ 
ance with their border position between the two. In order to ascertain whether 
the minimum temperatures thus obtained were really the temperatures of the 
bottom, serial soundings were taken at three stations, of which one was in the 
warm area and two in the cold, the temperature at different depths between the 
surface and the bottom being ascertained by successive observations at the 
same points, at intervals of 50 or 100 fathoms. All these results agreed extremely 


225 


well with each other; and they closely accorded with the 15 observations made 7 , 8. 
in the Lightning expedition, when the requisite correction for pressure (from 2° (Con’d.) 
to 3°, according to the depth) was applied to the latter. 

The following general summary of these results brings into marked contrast 
the conditions of the warm and cold areas, which occupy respectively the W. S. 

W. and the E. N. E. portions of the channel between the north of Scotland and 
the Faroe Islands, and lie side by side in its midst. 

The surface-temperature may be said to be everywhere nearly the same, 
viz, 52°; the variations above and below this being attributable either to atmos¬ 
pheric differences, (as wind, sunshine, &c.,) or to difference of latitude. Alike in 
the warm and the cold areas, there was a fall of from 3° to 4° in the first 50 fath- * 
oms, bringing down the temperature at that depth to 48°. A slow descent took 
place nearly at the same rate in both areas through the next 150 fathoms, the 
temperature in the warm area, at the depth of 200 fathoms, being 47°, while in 
the cold it was 45°.7. It is below this depth that the marked difference shows 
itself; for, while in the warm area there is a slow and pretty uniform descent 
in the next 400 fathoms,‘amounting to less than 4° in the whole, there is, in the 
cold area, a descent of 15° in the next 100 fathoms, bringing down the temper¬ 
ature, at 300 fathoms, to 30°.8. Even this is not the lowest; for the serial 
soundings, taken at depths intermediate between 300 and 640 fathoms, (the lat¬ 
ter being the greatest depth met with in the cold area, midway between the 
Faroe and the Shetland Islands,) showed a further progressive descent, the low¬ 
est bottom-temperature met with being 29°.6. Thus, while the temperature of 
the superficial stratum of the water occupying the cold area clearly indicates 
its derivation from the same source as the general body of water occupying the 
warm area, the temperature of the deeper stratum, which may have a thickness 
of more than 2,000 feet, ranges from the freezing point of fresh water to 2£° 
below it. Between the two is a stratum of intermixture, of about 100 fathoms 
thickness, which marks the transition between the warm superficial layer and 
the body of frigid water which occupies the deeper part of the channel. 

The shortest distance within which these two contrasted submarine climates 
were observed at correspoudiug depths was about 20 miles; but a much smaller 
distance was sufficient to produce it when the depth rapidly changed. Thus, 
near the southern border of the deep channel, at a depth of 190 fathoms, the 
bottom-temperature was 48°.7; while only 6 miles off, where the depth had 
increased to 445 fathoms, the bottom-temperature was 30°.l. In the first case 
the bottom evidently lay in the warm superficial stratum; while, iu the second, 
it was overflowed by the deeper frigid stream. 

It seems impossible to account for these phenomena on any other hypothe¬ 
sis than that of the direct derivation of this frigid water from the Arctic basin. 

And this agrees very Avell with other facts observed in the course of the explor¬ 
ation. Thus, first, the rapid descent of temperature, marking the “ stratum of 
intermixture,” began about 50 fathoms nearer the surface in the most northerly 
portion of the cold area examined, than it did in the most southerly, as might 
be expected from the nearer proximity of the cold stream to its source; second, 
the sand covering the bottom contains particles of volcanic minerals, probably 
brought down from Jan-Mayen or Spitsbergen; third, the fauna of the cold 
area has a decidedly boreal type, many of the animals which abound in it having 
been hitherto found only on the shores of Greenland, Iceland, or Spitzbergen. 

28 


226 


Notes. 

7 , 8. Although the temperatures obtained in the warm area do not afford the 

(Con’d.) same striking* evidence of the derivation of its whole body of water from a south¬ 
ern source, yet a careful examination of its condition seems fully to justify such 
an inference; for the water, at 400 fathoms, in latitude 59^°, was only 2°.4 
colder than water at the same depth at the northern border of the Bay of Bis¬ 
cay, in a latitude more than 10° to the south, where the surface-temperature.was 
62°.7; and the approximation of the two temperatures is jet nearer at still 
greater depths, the bottom-temperature, at 767 fathoms, at the former stations, 
being 41°.4, while the temperature at 750 fathoms, at the latter point, was 42°.5. 
Now, as it may be certainly affirmed that the lowest temperature observed in 
the warm area is considerably above the isotherm of its latitude, and that this 
elevation could not be maintained against the cooling influence of the Arctic 
Stream but for a continual supply of heat from a warmer region, the inference 
seems inevitable that the bulk of the water in the warm area must have come 
thither from the southwest. The influence of the Gulf Stream proper, (meaning 
by this the body of superheated water which issues through the “Narrows” 
from the Gulf of Mexico,) if it reaches this locality at all—which is very doubtful — 
could only affect the most superficial stratum; and the same may be said of the sur- 
face-drift caused by the prevalence of southivesterly winds , to which some have 
attributed the phenomena usually accounted for by the extension of the Gulf 
Stream to these regions. And the presence of the body of water which lies 
between 100 and 600 fathoms depth, and the range of whose temperature is from 
48° to 42°, can scarcely be accounted for on any other hypothesis than that of a 
great general movement of Equatorial water toward the Polar area; of which 
movement the Gulf Stream constitutes a peculiar case, modified by local condi¬ 
tions. In like manner, the Arctic Stream, which underlies the warm superficial 
stratum in our cold area, constitutes a peculiar case, modified by the local con¬ 
ditions, to be presently explained, of a great general movement of Polar water 
toward the Equatorial area, which depresses the temperature of the deepest 
parts of the great oceanic basins nearly to the freezing-point. 

II. 

During the first and second cruises of the Porcupine the temperature of the 
eastern border of the great North Atlantic basin was examined at various depths, 
between from 54 to 2,435 fathoms, and in widely different localities, ranging 
from latitude 47° to latitude 55°. The bottom-temperature was ascertained at 
30 stations, and serial soundings were taken at 7 stations, making the total 
number of observations 84. Among all these the coincidence of temperatures 
at corresponding depths is extraordinarily close, the chief differences showing 
themselves in the temperature of the surface and of the stratum immediately 
beneath it. A decided superheating is observable in this superficial stratum, 
not extending to a depth of much more than 70 or 80 fathoms,, and more consid¬ 
erable at the southern than at the northern stations. Whether this “superheat¬ 
ing” is entirely due to the direct influence of solar heat, or depends, in any degree, on 
an extension of the Gulf Stream, as far as the southern part of the area examined, 
is a question which can only be resolved by the determination of its relative 
amount at different seasons. Between 100 and 500 fathoms the rate of decre¬ 
ment is very slow, averaging only about 3° in the whole, or three fourths of a 


227 


Notes. 

degree for every 100 fathoms; and this body of water has a temperature so r, 8. 
much above the isotherm of the northern stations, at which the observations ( Con ’ d -) 
were made, as decidedly to indicate that it must have found its way thither , 
from a southern source. Between 500 and 750 fathoms, however, the rate of 
decrease becomes much more rapid, the reduction being 5°.4, or above 2° per 
100 fathoms; while, between 750 and 1,000 fathoms, it amounts to 3°.l, bringing 
down the temperature, at the latter depth, to an average of 38°.6. Beneath this 
there is still a slow progressive reduction with increase of depth, the tempera¬ 
ture falling a little more than 2° between 1,000 and 2,435 fathoms; so that, at 
the last named depth—the greatest at which it was ascertained—it was 36°.5. 

Thus it is obvious, either that the vast body of water occupying the deeper half 
of the Atlantic basin has been itself derived from a colder region, or that its 
temperature has been reduced by the diffusion through it of frigid water from a 
Polar source. The latter supposition best accords with the gradual depression 
of temperature exhibited between 500 and 1,000 fathoms, which corresponds 
with the “stratum of intermixture” of the cold area. 

The temperature soundings recently taken by Commander Chimmo, B. N., 
and Lieutenant Jolinsou, B. N., at various points in the North Atlantic basin, 
when the requisite corrections are applied for the influence of pressure on the 
bulbs of the unprotected thermometers employed by them, give results which 
are remarkably accordant with our own; so that it may be stated, with confi¬ 
dence, that the temperature of the deeper parts of the North Atlantic sea-bed is 
but a Very few degrees above the freezing-point. 

Now, a glance at the North Polar region, as laid down either on a globe or 
any projection of which the Pole is the center, shows that the Polar basin is so 
much shut in by the northern shores of the European, Asiatic, and American 
continents that its only communication with the North Atlantic basin—besides 
the circuitous passages leading into Hudson’s and Baffin’s Bays—is the space 
which intervenes between the eastern coast of Greenland and the northwestern 
portion of the Scandinavian peninsula. If, therefore, there be any such general 
interchange of Polar and Equatorial water as that for which we have argued, the 
Arctic current must flow through the deeper portions of this interspace, at the 
north of which lies Spitzbergen, while Iceland and the Faroes lie in the middle 
of its southern expanse. Now, in the channel that lies between Greenland and 
Iceland, the depth is such as to give a free passage to such a frigid stream; but* 
between Iceland and the Faroe Islands, there is no depth so great as 300 fath¬ 
oms at any part, except in a narrow channel at the southeast corner of Iceland; 
so that an effectual barrier is thus interposed to any movement of frigid water 
at a depth exceeding this. A similar barrier is presented, not merely by the 
plateau on which the British Islands rest, but also by the bed of the North Sea, 
the shallowness of which must give to such a movement a not less effectual check 
than would be afforded by an actual coast-line uniting the Shetland Islands and 
Norway. Consequently it is obvious that a flow of ice-cold water, at a depth ex¬ 
ceeding 300 fathoms from the surface, down the northeastern portion of this inter¬ 
space, can only find its way southward through the deeper portion of the chan¬ 
nel between the Faroe and Shetland Islands, which will turn it into a W. S. W. 
direction 'between the Faroe Islands and the north of Scotland, and dually dis¬ 
charge such part of it as has not been neutralized by the opposing stream com- 
iug up from the southwest, into the great North Atlantic basin, where it will 


228 


7 , 8. meet the Iceland and Greenland currents, and unite with them in dinusing 
(Con’d.) frigid waters through its deeper portion. In thus spreading itself, however, the 
frigid water will neeessarily mingle with the mass of warmer water with which 
it meets, and will thus have its own temperature raised, while lowering the 
general temperature of that mass y and hence it is that we do not find the tem¬ 
perature of even the greatest depths of the Atlantic basin nearly so low as that 
of the comparatively shallow channel which feeds it with Arctic water. 

It may be questioned, however, whether the whole body of Arctic water 
that finds its way through the channels just indicated could alone maintain so 
considerable a reduction in the temperature of the enormous mass which lies 
below 1,000 fathoms in the Atlantic basin, subject as this must be to continual 
elevation by the surface-action of the sun on its southern portion. And as the 
few reliable observations on deep-sea temperatures under the Equator indicate 
that even there a temperature not much above 32° prevails, it seems probable 
that that part of the cooling effect is due to the extension of a flow of frigid 
water from the Antarctic Pole, even north of the Tropic of Cancer. Of such an 
extension there is evidence in the temperature-soundings recently taken in H. 
M. S. Hydra, between Aden and Bombay, where the cooling influence could 
scarcely have been derived from any other source than the Antarctic area. 
(The lowest temperature actually observed in these soundings was 36J°. The 
temperature of 33J°, given previously, as existing below 1,800 fathoms, proves 
to have been only an estimate formed by Captain Shortland under the idea that 
the rate of reduction observed at smaller depths would continue uniform to the 
bottom, which the serial soundings of the Porcupine prove to be by no means 
the case.) 

The unrestricted communication which exists between the Antartic area 
and the great Southern ocean basins would involve, if the doctrine of a general 
oceanic circulation be admitted, a much more considerable interchange of waters 
between the Antarctic and Equatorial areas than is possible in the Northern 
hemisphere. And of such a free interchange there seems adequate evidence, for 
it is well known to navigators that there is a perceptible “set” of warm surface- 
water in all the Southern oceans toward the Antarctic Pole; this “set” being so 
decided in one part of the Southern Indian Ocean as to be compared by Captain 
Maury to the Gulf Stream of the North Atlantic. (Physical Geography of the 
Sea, §§ 748-750.) Conversely, it would appear from the application of the 
necessary pressure-correction to the temperatures taken in Sir James Boss’ Ant¬ 
arctic Expedition, the voyage of the Yenus, &c., at depths greater than 1,000 
fathoms, that the bottom-temperature of the deepest.parts of the Southern 
oceanic basin really approaches the freezing-point, or is even below it. And if 
the temperaturh of the deeper portion of the North Pacific Ocean should be 
found to exhibit a depression at all corresponding to that of the North Atlantic, 
it must be attributed entirely to the extension of this Antarctic flow, since the 
depth of Behring’s Strait, as well as its breadth, is so small as to permit no body 
of Arctic water to issue through that channel. 

If further observations should substantiate the general diffusion of a tem¬ 
perature not much above the freezing-point over the deepest portions of the 
ocean-bed, even in intertropical regions, as a result of a general deep movement 
of Polar waters toward the Equator, forming the complement of the surface- 
movement of Equatorial water toward the Poles, it is obvious that such diffusion 


220 


Sotes. 

must exert a very important influence on the distribution of animal life; and, in r, s. 
particular, that we may expect to meet with forms which have hitherto been (Con’d.) 
reputed essentially Arctic in the deep seas of even the intertropical region, and 
again in the shallower water of the Antarctic area. Such, there is strong 
reason to believe, will prove the case. In his recent annual address as President 
of the Royal Society, Sir Edward Sabine cites observations on this point made 
by Sir James Ross in his Antarctic Expedition, as confirmatory of the view 
entertained by that distinguished navigator, “ that water of similar temperature 
to that of the Arctic and Antarctic Seas exists in the depths of the intermediate 
ocean, and may have formed a channel for the dissemination of species.” The 
“similar temperature,” believed by Sir James Ross to have had this general 
prevalence, seems to have been 39°, whereas the observations made in the Por¬ 
cupine expedition distinctly prove that a temperature even below 30° may be 
conveyed by Polar streams far into the temperate zone, and that the general 
temperature of the deepest part of the North Atlantic sea bed has more of a 
Polar character than he supposed. 

Again, the deep-sea dredgings of the Porcupine expedition have shown that 
many species of mollusks and Crustacea, previously supposed to be purely Arc¬ 
tic, range southward in deep water as far as those dredgings extended, namely, 
to the northern extremity of the Bay of Biscay; and it becomes a question of 
high interest whether an extension of the same mode of exploration would not 
bring them up from the abysses of even intertropical seas. 

Now, as there must have been deep seas at all geological epochs, and as the 
physical forces which maintain the oceanic circulation must have been in opera¬ 
tion throughout, though modified in their local action by the particular distri¬ 
bution of land and water at each period, it is obvious that the presence of Arctic 
types of animal life in any marine formation cannot be accepted as furnishing 
evidence per se of the general extension of glacial action into temperate or tropi¬ 
cal regions. How far the doctrines now current on this point may need to be 
modified by the new facts now brought to bear on them, it will be for geologists 
to determine. The question may be left in their hands with full assurance of a 
candid reception of the fresh evidence now adduced. 

The general results of the dredging operations carried on during the Porcu¬ 
pine expedition will now be concisely stated. 

In the fir§t place they show conclusively that there is no limit to the depth 
at which animal life may exist on the ocean-bed; and that the types found at 
even the greatest depths may not be less elevated in character than those inhab¬ 
iting shallower waters. It would even be premature yet to affirm that the higher 
types occur in less abundance and variety than at more moderate depths; for it is 
by no means impossible that the use of the improved method of collection devised 
by Captain Calver, (which consists in the attachment of “hempen tangles” to 
the dredging-apparatus, by which the floor of the ocean is swept as well as scraped , 
and which often came up loaded when the dredge was empty,) which was employed 
with extraordinary success in the third cruise, may make as large an addition to 
our knowledge of the life of the sea-bottom explored by the dredge in the first 
and second cruises of the Porcupine, as it lias done in the case of the cold area, 
where it revealed the astonishing richness of the bottom which the Lightning 
dredgings of the previous year had led us to regard as comparatively barren. 

Secondly, they confirm our previous conclusion that temperature exerts a 


230 


Notes. 

7 , s. much greater influence than pressure on the distribution of animal life. Not 

(Con’d.) on ]y h a y e we found the same forms presenting themselves through an enormous 
vertical range—no amount of fluid pressure being incompatible with their exist¬ 
ence—but we have also, by a more complete survey of the relations of the warm 
and cold areas, established the very marked difference between the faunae of two 
contiguous portions of the sea-bed lying at the same depth, which was indicated 
by the Lightning dredgings. It is remarkable, however, that this difference 
showed itself more in the crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, and foramiuifera, 
than it did in the mollusca, of which a considerable proportion were common to 
both areas. The abundance and variety of animal life on a bottom, of which the 
temperature is at least 2° F. below the freezing point of fresh water, is a fact 
which has all the interest of surprise; and it is scarcely less remarkable that the 
forms of mollusks, echinoderms, and sponges, which seem to be the character¬ 
istic inhabitants of the cold area, should attain a very considerable size. The 
precise limitation of the Globigerina mud and of the vitreous sponges to the 
warm area, was a very striking manifestation of the influence of temperature, 
and lias very important geological bearings. 

Thirdly, they have largely added to the number of cases in which types that 
had been regarded as characteristic of earlier geological periods, and to have 
long since become extinct, prove to be still existing in the depths of the ocean; 
and greatly increase the probability that an extension of the like method of 
research to more distant localities would produce even more remarkable revela¬ 
tions of this character. 

The doctrine propounded by Professor Wyville Thomson, in the report of 
the Lightning expedition, as to the absolute continuity of the cretaceous forma¬ 
tion with the deposit of Globigerina -mud at present in progress on the North 
Atlantic sea-bed, has received such striking confirmation from the discovery of 
the persistence of numerous cretaceous types, not merely in our own explora¬ 
tions, but also in those carried on by the United States Coast Survey in the Gulf 
of Mexico, that it may be fairly affirmed that the onus probandi rests upon those 
who assert that the formation of true chalk has ever been interrupted since the 
cretaceous period. That period is usually considered to have terminated with 
the elevation of the cretaceous deposits of the European area into dry land. 
But according to the accepted doctrines of geology it is highly probable that, 
coincidently with the elevation of the European area, there was a gradual sub¬ 
sidence of what is now the Atlantic sea-bed; so that the Globigerincv of the 
former area, with many accompanying types of animal life, would progressively 
spread themselves over the latter, as its conditions became favorable to their 
existence; and there seems no reason why they should not have maintained 
themselves in its deepest parts, through the comparatively small changes of 
level which took place in this portion of the earth’s crust during the tertiary 
epoch. 

Fourthly, the Porcupine explorations have enormously extended our knowl¬ 
edge of the British marine fauna, alike by the discovery of new types, and by 
the addition of types previously known only as inhabitants of other localities. 
The mollusca alone have as yet been fully examined; and Mr. J. Gwyn Jef¬ 
freys, whose authority upon this part of the subject is not second to that of any 
other naturalist, reports as follows: The total number of species of marine mol¬ 
lusca enumerated in his recently completed “British Ooncliology” (excluding the 


231 


Notes. 

Nudihranchs) is 451; and to these the Porcupine expedition has added no fewer 7, s. 
than 117, or more than one-fourth. Of these as many as 50 are undescribed, (Con d.) 
while seven were supposed to be extinct as tertiary fossils. Sixteen genera, 
including live which are undescribed, are new to the British seas. u All that I 
can do,” he says, u by continual dredgings in comparatively shallow water, dur¬ 
ing the last sixteen years, was to add about 80 species to the number described 
by Forbes and Hanley. I regard the present (although a large) addition as 
merely an earnest of future discoveries. In fact, the treasure of the deep is inex¬ 
haustible.” The complete examination of the Crustacea, which are in the hands 
of the Eev. A. M. Norman, and of the annelids, which have been under¬ 
taken by Mr. Claparede and Dr. Macintosh, will probably yield results scarcely 
less striking. It is, however, in the eeliinoderms and sponges, which are being 
examined by Professor Wyville Thomson, in the stony corals, which have been 
referred to Dr. P. M. Duncan, and in the Foraminifera , which constitute the 
speaker’s own specialty, that the most interesting novelties present themselves. 


9 Nature, December 9, 1869, p. 166. «». 

[The following is from a discourse delivered by Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys before the Royal Insti¬ 
tute: “The Deep-sea Dredging Expedition in H. M. S. Porcupine.”] 

*####### 

I will make a few remarks as to the mollusca obtained in the expedition, 
and with respect to that part of the Sea-bed which I investigated: 

1 . The Mollusca are mostly Arctic or Northern. —This I have shown in my 
narrative as regards the western coasts of Ireland, which have hitherto been 
supposed to belong zoologically to what Professor Edward Forbes called the 
“ Lusitanian” province; and the present remark applies not only to deep water, 
but to shallow water, and even the bays. In Professor Wyville Thomson’s 
cruise to the southwest of Ireland occurred two species which I was quite 
unprepared to see. These were Solarium siculum , and an unmistakable fragment 
of Gassidaria tyrrliena. The former inhabits the Mediterranean, Madeira, Cana¬ 
ries, and the coast of Portugal, and the latter has not been noticed north of Brit¬ 
tany. Such exceptions, as well as Ostrea cochlear , Mur ex mibricatus , and Fluty dia 
anomioides, it.is difficult to account for; but, as all these species are said to 
inhabit deep water, the Equatorial current may have carried them northward, 
in an embryonic state; or it is possible that they may be likewise Northern 
species, and have not yet been discovered in high latitudes. We are nearly 
ignorant of the Arctic mollusca, owing to the difficulty of exploration; and those 
who assume that the marine fauna of the circumpolar seas is poor, or wants 
variety, ought to see the vast collection made by Professor Torell, at Spitzber- 
gen. The greatest depth at which he dredged there was 280 fathoms. The 
soundings taken in 1868 by the last Swedish expedition reached 2,600 fathoms, 
when a Cuma and a fragment of an Astarte came up in the Bulldog machine. 
Soundings, however, are very insufficient for zoological purposes. Judging by 
the results of our own expedition * this year, which have increased to such a 
wonderful extent our list of the British marine fauna living beyond the ordinary 
line of soundings, it may fairly be taken for granted that the arctic marine fauna 
is much less known than ours. I have not the slightest doubt that by another 


232 


Xotes. 

!». expedition to Spitzbergen, provided with improved machinery, and under the 
(Con’d.) charge of the professor at Lund, or some other able zoologist, the species 
obtained would be double the present number. It is evident that the majority, 
if not the whole of our submarine (as contradistinguished from littoral or phyto¬ 
phagous) mollusca originated in the North, whence they have in the course of 
time been transported southward by the great Arctic current. Many of them 
appear to have found their way into the Mediterranean, or to have left their 
remains in the tertiary and quaternary formations of the south of Italy. Some 
have even migrated into the Gulf of Mexico, as I will presently mention. 

I cannot see much, if any, difference between the mollusca from the warm 
and cold areas of Dr. Carpenter. The number of species from the cold area, 
w hich also occurred in the warm area, is forty-four. Other species from the cold 
area, and not from the warm area, are eleven. Of these last, five are unde¬ 
scribed, and one is apparently sub-fossil, and may be a relic of the glacial epoch; 
so that there remain only five which are Arctic and North American, but which 
were not found in the warm area. 

3. Relation to North American Mollusca. —The late Dr. Gould, in his “Report 
on the Invertebrata of Massachusetts, (1841,)” gave 176 species of marine mol¬ 
lusca as inhabiting that coast. Mr. Mighels, Professor Stimpson, and others, 
have since described a few more species, making the total number about 200. I 
have found 60 of these as British, a dozen being from the present expedition. 
The size of the North American species is, so far as I have observed, smaller 
than that of our specimens of the same species, perhaps showing' that their 
common origin wns in the Arctic seas of Europe, and not of America. 

* # # * • * * * * 

5. Relation to the Mollusca of the Gulf of Mexico. —I hope soon to have an 
opportunity of examining and comparing the mollusca dredged during the 
last three summers by Count Pourtales in the United States expeditions. The 
only species which I have yet seen from the Gulf of Florida are Waldheimia 
Floridana and Terebratula Cubensis. The former appears to be that variety of 
Terebratula septata (a Norwegian and now British species) which Professor 
Seguenza has described and figured under the name of Waldheimia Peloritana , 
from tertiary beds in Sicily; and the latter is closely allied to Terebratula vitrea , 
(Mediterranean,) and is perhaps a variety of that polymorphous species. Not 
only the external characters, but also the skeletons or internal processes of 
these American species correspond exactly with those of their European rela¬ 
tives. I must repeat that I am no believer in the doctrine or idea of species 
being “represented” in a geographical point of view. Species may be identical 
or allied, but not “representative.” 


6. Gulf Stream.—The northern character of the marine fauna, observed during 
the Porcupine expedition, is certainly at variance with the general notion that 
this “river in the ocean,” or any branch of it, flows directly to our coasts; and I 
have elsewhere (“British Conchology,” vol. 1, Intr., pp. xcviii and xcix; and 
Report of British Association, 1868, p. 236) endeavored to show that the occur- 


233 


Jfote. 

mice in northern latitudes of tropical shells, seeds, and timber may be accounted «. 
for by the surface drift arising from the prevalence of westerly winds. But ( Con ’ d -) 
tliere is unquestionably a marine as well as an aerial circulation, Equatorial and 
Arctic currents as well as trade winds. 


7. Nature of the Sea bed. —In that part of my report which contains a narra¬ 
tive of the expedition, so far as I was engaged in it, I have given some particu¬ 
lars which it is unnecessary to recapitulate. Some of the pebbles and gravel 
from my deepest dredgings (1,215 to 1,476 fathoms) have been examined by Mr. 
David Forbes, the eminent mineralogist, and he lias kindly furnished me with 
the detailed report which I append to this communication. Among the pebbles 
and gravel were several fragments of true volcanic lava, which throw a consid¬ 
erable light on the course of the Arctic current along the western coasts of Ire¬ 
land. He is of opinion that these volcanic minerals came from Iceland or Jan- 
Mayen. Mr. Forbes has also, at my request, carefully and completely analyzed 
a portion of the Atlantic mud from 1,443 fathoms, the pebbles and gravel having 
been previously removed from it by sifting; and the result shows that its chem¬ 
ical composition differs greatly from that of ordinary chalk. The sifted mud 
contains, out of 100 parts, 50.12 only of carbonate of lime, and no less than 26.77 
of fine insoluble gritty sand or rock debris; while chalk consists almost entirely of 
carbonate of lime, and seldom contains more than from 2 to 4 per cent, of clay, 
silica, and other foreign material. But I do not say that this single analysis is 
conclusive. I may observe that stony ground did not occur, during the present 
expedition, beyond about 550 fathoms, the sea bed, at greater depths, being 
covered by mud, or what is technically called “ooze.” This superstratum appears to 
consist chiefly of decomposed animal matter, mixed with the shells of pteropods 
and Globigerince , which must have dropped from the surface of the sea. I have 
myself seen living Globigerince in great abundance taken with Spiriales in the 
towing net; and Major Owen’s papers in the Journal of the Linnsean Society for 
1865 and 1866 leave no doubt, not only that Globigerince , and other free Foram- 
inifera , live on the surface of the mid-ocean, but that they have the power, by 
protruding their pseudopodia, of descending a few inches and rising again to 
the surface. Sessile or fixed Foraminifera , of course, cannot do this; but I have 
found some of these living on the surface and attached to floating sea-weed (Fu- 
cus serratus) at a considerable distance from land. The fresh appearance of the 
sarcode in Foraminifera taken from great depths does not of itself prove that 
they live there, when we consider the comparatively antiseptic or preservative 
property of sea water, as well as the extremely minute size of the aperture in 
each cell which contains the sarcode. Some Foraminifera , however, inhabit 
only the bottom of the sea. 

###•***** 

9. Oceanic Currents.— The Arctic or northern current probably runs with 
greater rapidity and force in some places than in others where the flow seems 
to be very slow and feeble. Everywhere (as I pointed out in my Shetland report 
for 1863) the motion must be extremely gentle or imperceptible at the bottom in 
30 


234 


Notes. 

9. deep water, as we find the most fragile and delicate corralines from stony ground 
(Con’d.) quite uninjured. 

#######* 

At the meeting of the Eoyal Society at which the observations described in 
the above paper were communicated, Professor Alexander Agassiz gave an 
account of the principal results arrived at by the American Dredging Expedi¬ 
tion. The ground explored.was limited to a length of about 120. miles by 60 to 
90 miles in width, between the Florida Keys and the northern coast of Cuba; 
and although the depth reached was by no means as great as that attained by 
the last British expedition, not being much more than one-tliird of it—about 820 
fathoms—yet the results were fully as striking, and agree in the main points 
•with the conclusions arrived at by the British explorers. 

Commencing with the sponges, which contained a great number of siliceous 
forms, he gave, as the results of the examination of Dr. Oscar Schmidt, of Graatz, 
the specific identity of the majority of JFe species with Mediterranean, Azoric, 
and Atlantic species, showing a geographical range quite unprecedented, and 
extending the Atlantic fauna from the Gulf of Mexico to the Bermudas , the Azores , 
the Mediterranean, the western coasts of Europe, and extending far north to the boreal 
regions of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. These same results would apply, as 
far as the collections have been examined, to the Echinoderms, Mollusca, and 
Crustacea , though the number of identical species in these branches over this ex¬ 
tensive Atlantic area is much smaller. Among the Echinoderms, the Echini 
specially showed several new and interesting forms, recalling types characteristic 
of the cretaceous period; one genus especially, the genus Salenia, is represented 
in our (the British) seas by a most interesting species. Another cretaceous type, 
a new'genus of Spatangida, (Pourtalesia,) was found in deep water in Florida, 
and, like the Crinoid genus, Bhizocrinus, was also dredged by the Porcupine expe¬ 
dition. Several other species of Echinoderms were also shown to be identical on 
both sides of the Atlantic. 

Professor A. Agassiz gave, besides, an instance of one of these so-called 
cretaceous generic types, which was only the young stage of a well-known genus 
represented from the time of the chalk through the tertiaries, and which is now 
found living in the tropical seas; showing how careful we ought to be in our 
generalizations, when drawn from a class where the transformations from the 
young stages to the adult are as great as they are in Echinoderms. He gave as 
an example of this the case of two species of Echini, one of which is known under 
one generic name, (Stolonoclypeus,) as the adult, in Florida, while the young is 
known under a different generic name (Echinocyamus) in Europe, and endeav¬ 
ored to explain by the action of the currents the migration of the pelagic 
embryos, many of which remain in a helpless condition for several months, and 
thus to show how changes of currents, brought about by the elevation or sub¬ 
sidence of portions of continents, would fully account for the present limitation 
of marine faunra. 


10 Oestreichische Zeitschrift fur Meteorologie, V. No. 4, February 15, 1870, 
p. 94. 


i«. 


235 


11 Athenaeum, August 21, 1869, p. 248. 

[The following is from the President’s address at the inaugural meeting of the British Asso¬ 
ciation, at Exeter, August 18, 1869: —Hydrographic Office.] 

I am informed by Dr. Carpenter that dredging has been successfully carried 
down to more than 2,400 fathoms, (nearly the height of Mont Blanc,) and that 
animal life has been found even at that depth in considerable variety, though its 
amount and kind are obviously influenced by the reduction of temperature to 
Arctic coldness. A very careful series of temperature soundings has been taken, 
showing, on the same spot, a continuous descent of temperature with the depth, 
at first more rapid, afterwards pretty uniform. * * * * 

All the observations hitherto made go to confirm the idea of a general inter¬ 
change of polar and equatorial waters, the former occupying the lowest depths, 
the latter forming a superficial stratum of 700 or 800 fathoms. The analyses of 
the water brought up indicate a large proportion of carbonic acid in the gases of 
the deep waters and a general diffusion of organic matter. 

12 Journal of the American Geographical and Statistical Society, vol. ii, part 
2, evi, et seq. These perorations of Mr. Blunt appear much like an echo, but 
a much deteriorated one, of Mr. Findlay. 

13 “I was truly pleased at reading the other day (I know not whether it was 
accurate) that the Gulf Stream had proved to be a delusion. The Gulf Stream 
was almost as great a nuisance as Macaulay’s New Zealander, or the German 
who evolves things from the depths of his consciousness. One could not men¬ 
tion the weather without giving a chance to somebody to clothe himself with the 
true scientific swagger and hurl the Gulf Stream at your head. There are cer¬ 
tain remarks which nobody ever makes without a certain air of superior wisdom, 
and the man who affected familiarity with the Gulf Stream always seemed to 
teel himself six inches taller in consequence. I should have real pleasure in 
learning that the Gulf Stream had been definitely exploded.” (Cornliill Maga¬ 
zine, July, 1869, p. 50.) 

14 Weser Gazette, February 16, 1870. 

15 Kohl, Geschichte des Golfstromes, (History of the Gulf Stream,) Bremen, 
1868, p. 173, citing the Journal of the Boyal Geographical Society, vol. 26, p. 26. 
Findlay, however, does not speak of the Gulf Stream, but of the “ warm waters 
of the equatorial regions passed northeastward from the Gulf Stream,” meaning, 
doubtless, a drift and not the Gulf Stream. 

16 Diagram of the Gulf Stream, to illustrate the paper by A. G. Findlay. 
Proceedings Boyal Geographical Society, XIII, p. 103, (see note 6.) 

17 Kohl, Geschichte des Golfstromes, (History of the Gulf Stream,) p. 222. 

18 Geographische Mittheilungen, 1865, table 5. 

19 Wind and Current Charts of the North Atlantic, by Lieutenant Matthew 
F. Maury, United States Naval Observatory, 1852; thermal sheets, Nos. 1 to 8, 
series D. These eight sheets extend from the Equator to latitude 65J° N., and 
from longitude 100° W. to longitude 20° E. of Greenwich. 


Xotcs. 

11 - 10 . 


ise. 

13 . 


14 . 

15 . 


10 . 

lr. 

18 . 

19. 


236 


Notes. 

20-24. 20 Schmid, Lehrbuch der Meteorologie, p. 254. 

24 . 21 Onderzoekingen met den Zeetliermometer, als Uitkomsten van Wetenschap 

eir Ervaaring, angaande de Winden en Zeestroomingen in sommige gedeelten 
van den Oceaan. Uitgegeven door het Koninglijk Xederlandsch Meteorologisch 
Instituut te Utrecht, in 1861, quarto. 

22 . 22 Eeport to the Committee of the Meteorological Office on the Meteorology 

of the Atlantic, between the parallels of 40° and 50° X., as illustrated by eight 
diagrams of observations taken on board the mail steamers running to and from 
America, with remarks on the difference in the winds and weather experienced, 
according as the ship’s course is westerly or easterly, and on the probable causes 
of the difference. By Captain Henry Toynbee, Marine Superintendent, Meteor¬ 
ological Office. London, 1869. 

23 ,24. 23 and 24 Proceedings of the Boyal Geographical Society, XIII, pp. 229 et seq , 

and Geographische Mittlieilungen, 1869, p. 436. 

[The following paper, read before the Royal Geographical Society, contains the data referred 

to:] 

On the Surface Temperature of the North Atlantic , in reference to Ocean Currents. 

By Nicholas Whitley , C. E. 

The thermometrical observations on which this paper is founded were com¬ 
menced on the Cornish coast in 1849, and were afterward extended to the Scilly 
Isles, the Seven Stones Light-ship, to Yarmouth, and to the Shetland Isles'. And, 
further, in order to ascertain the temperature of the surface water across the 
Atlantic, extracts were made from the log-books of Cunard’s steamships sailing 
between Liverpool and Xew York, for a period of five years ; which have been 
reduced to monthly means at every five degrees of longitude, and are embodied 
in the table appended to this paper. 

The primary object was an endeavor to determine the influence of the Gulf 
Stream on the climate and agriculture of the British Isles. 

In this paper I purpose only to state the general results obtained, and to 
apply the evidence as a test of the existence of ocean currents. 

The chart exhibited to the meeting shows the surface temperature of the sea 
taken in five voyages in different years, and similar observations are given in 
the table at the end of this paper. 

In January the sqp around the Scilly Isles is somewhat warmer than on the 
western coast of Irelapd, and there is a decreasing temperature from 51° at the 
Seven Stones to 42° at Shetland, being a difference of only 9° in 700 miles of 
latitudinal distance. The January temperature of the water continues also to 
decrease down the eastern coasts of Scotland and England, until it reaches its 
minimum of 37° at Great Yarmouth. 

We may, therefore, infer that the Xorth Sea in winter derives its warmth 
rather from the strong tides which pass around the north of Scotland than from 
any warmer water flowing through the Straits of Dover. 

The mean temperature of the sea in Penzance Bay, last January, was 50°, 
and between Hull and Hamburg, 43°. In the same month, on the American 
coast, the sea is very cold, seldom rising above the freezing point, and often 
from two to four degrees below it. The chilling effect of the Arctic Current is 


237 


. , Notes. 

ielt far down the coast; but where the water is somewhat sheltered from its 23 , 24 . 
influence by the land of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland it rises several degrees (Con’d.) 
in warmth. 

The extent and greatest intensity of the Arctic Current is sharply shown by 
the thermometer in every voyage. The cold water on the Banks of Newfound¬ 
land reaches its mean monthly minimum of 30° in January, and its mean maxi¬ 
mum of 52° in September, and its width is fully 400 British miles. 

On the eastern side of the cold current, and in close proximity to it, there 
is a bed of very warm water having a mean temperature in January of 57°, 
being 27° warmer than that on the Banks, over a width of about 200 miles. 

This appears to be a strong eddy of the Gulf Stream, curving northward, and 
holding the Arctic Current in its warm embrace. 

From this part of the sea to near the Irish coast the warmth is more equally 
distributed through the water, and the thermometer does not detect any well- 
defined branch of the Gulf Stream flowing to the N. E. There is, however, a 
decided rise in the temperature about the middle of the Atlantic, amounting to 
from four to six degrees above that of the sea at Scilly, and the figures on the 
chart appear to indicate that it lies in a S. W. and N. E. direction. It is most 
probably the drift of the Gulf Stream driven to the N. E. by the prevailing S. 

W. wind. 

The observations at the coast stations on the west of Ireland show a tem¬ 
perature of 3° below that of the open sea 350 miles to the west. 

Our S. W. wind has its birthplace where the temperature of the sea is at 
least 55° in January, causing the thermometer on the Cornish coast, under its 
influence, to stand steadily at 52°, and the great warmth of the past winter 
resulted from the continued persistency of this wind rather than from any 
excess of heat in the sea. 

The S. W. wind gives to Penzance a mean winter temperature of 44°, being 
the same as that of Montpelier; Cork falls short of it by only half a degree; and 
the Scilly Isles at this season exceed this noted winter resort by 2J°. 

Table showing the temperature of the surface water of the Atlantic Ocean, at every 5° of lougitude, from 
the south of Ireland to the Banks of Newfoundland, on the course of Cunard 7 s steamships. 


Months. 

# 

On the 
Banks. 

Longitude. 

4°° 

35° 

3 o° 

25° 

20° 

I 5° 

IO° 

January. 

3° 

57 

53 

54 

55 

54 

52 

5i 

February. 

31 

<54 

53 

52 

53 

52 

52 

50 

March. 

32 

54 

54 

55 

54 

54 

52 

5i 

April. 

34 

57 

55 

55 

52 

54 

53 

52 

May. 

34 

55 

54 

55 

56 

55 

53 

53 

June. 

40 

60 

59 

58 

56 

58 

58 

57 

July. 

45 

60 

59 

58 

59 

60 

58 

59 

August. 

50 

61 

59 

60 

59 

60 

60 

59 

September. 

52 

59 

59 

60 

59 

60 

59 

58 

October... 

47 

59 

59 

56 

56 

57 

57 

55 

November. 

44 

58 

57 

58 

59 

57 

54 

53 

December. 

32 

55 

54 

54 

54 

54 

53 

52 

Mean of the year. 

39-2 

57-2 

56.2 

56.2 

56.0 

5^-2 

55-i 

54-2 




























238 


IVotes. 

»3, 24 . The means represented in the preceding table show that east of the cold 
(Con’d.) W ater of the Newfoundland Banks, (the Polar Stream, which has there a width 
of 400 miles, and a temperature in January of 30°, and in September of 52°,) 
there is a bed of warm water, 200 miles in width, with a temperature of 57° in 
January and 61° in August. Between this bed and the Irish coast the temper¬ 
ature is more uniform; there is, however, in the middle of this distance, in about 
longitude 25° W. of Greenwich, a belt of water of a decidedly higher temper¬ 
ature. 


25 . 25 Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society, new series, No. VIII. 

Edinburgh and London. October, 1805, pp. 250. 

On the Temperature of the Sea on the Coast of Scotland.—By Alexander Buchan , 

Meteorological Secretary. 

To ascertain the temperature of the sea on the coast of Scotland, and par¬ 
ticularly the annual and diurnal changes to which it is subject, observations 
have been made at different points round the coast, beginning with January, 
1857, to the present time. These have been regularly published in the society’s 
quarterly proceedings. From these observations the following tables have been 
constructed. Since the times of observation were not the same at the several 
stations, we sliall state the years and the number of times they were made 
monthly at the different places. All the observations were made at a depth of 
6 feet, except some of the Harris observations, afterward to be referred to. 

At Sandwich, Orkney, the observations were begun in January, 1857, and 
have been continued regularly to the present time, generally from five to seven 
times a month. 

At Stornoway, the observations began in February, 1857, and have been 
continued, with one or two blanks, to the present time. During the first four 
years the temperature was taken four to nineteen times each month; during the 
next two years, generally three times; and during the last two years, only once 
a month. 

At Harris, the observations were made on an* extensive scale, under the 
superintendence of Captain Thomas, H. M. C. Woodlark, assisted by Mr. Sliar- 
bau, while surveying the Outer Hebrides. During the winter months the 
temperatures were observed in,East Loch, Tarbert, Harris*and, in summer, 
among those islands where the survey was in progress, but always within a 
radius of 18 miles. The temperatures, at the depth of G feet, were observed at 
9 a. m. and 3 p. m., from 1st November, 1858, to 30th November, 1863; at 9 p. m. 
from 1st May, 1859, to 30th November, 1863, (except December, 1859, and Jan¬ 
uary, February, March, I860;) and the daily minimum temperature from Janu¬ 
ary, 1859, to November, 1863. The above have all been brought, in Table II, to 
the mean of the five years beginning November, 1858, and ending November, 
1863. The temperatures, at depth of 1 foot and 24 feet, were observed from 
June to October, 1858; and the temperature, at 6 feet as compared with 60 feet, 
from June to September, 1859. In addition to these, term-day observations 
were made on the 21st or 22d of each month, beginning with May, 1859, and 
ending with November, 1863. They were made sixteen times each day, beginning 


239 


■Vole. 

at G a. m., then every second hour, and at 9 a. m., 3 p. m., 9 p. m., and 3 a. m. 

The results of this laborious and most valuable series of observations are given (Con’d.) 
iu Tables II and III. 

At Oban, the observations were generally made from four to seven times a 
month, extending from May, 1859, to March, 1865, with the exception of six 
months, from November, 1859, to April, 1860. 

In the sea west of O^an, (including the sea off Coll, Tyree, Mull, &c.,) the 
observations were made under the direction of Captain Bedford, R. N., and by 
him transmitted to the society’s office, and published annually in the proceed¬ 
ings of the society. 

At Otter House, (east of Lochgilphead,) the observations began in October, 

1858, and have been continued to the present time. In 1858, 1859, and 1860, 
they were taken daily ; but since then three times a month, viz, on the 10th, 

20th, and 30th. 

At Westhaven, near Carnoustie, the observations were taken by Mr. Proc¬ 
tor, the society’s observer at Barry, from January, 1857, to the present time, 
once, twice, or more rarely thrice a month. 

At North Berwick, the observations were taken by the society’s observer at 
Smeaton, from April, 1857, to June, 1861, thrice a month, generally on the 5th, 

15th, and 25th. 

At Dunbar, the observations were made by Mr. Storie, the society’s observer 
at East Linton, from January, 1857*, to December, 1864; during the first five 
years, generally on the 5th, 15tli, and 25th of the month; and during the last 
three years, generally on the 15th only. 

Captain Thomas has made daily observations of the temperature of the sea 
since 2d March, 1864, at Trinity Chain Pier, near Edinburgh, at a point 225 
yards from high-water line, and about 40 yards at low water; the depth being 6 
feet at low-water spring tide, and 25 feet at high-water spring tide. He has also 
made term-day observations, similar to those made by him at Harris, on the 21st 
of the month, beginning with September, 1864. 

Observations of the temperature of the sea have also been made at Bernera, 
in Lewis, and East Yell, in Shetland, but the blanks which occur are too numer¬ 
ous to admit of a satisfactory mean being taken; at Easdale, in Argill, but the 
thermometer used had unfortunately been a very defective instrument; at Bres- 
say, Portree, Tobermorey, the Mode,' Dunrobin, and Portsoy, but in no case for 
a period exceeding a year. 

In the results which have been published by the society it has all along 
been assumed that the mean temperature of the sea for any month at any point 
has been the simple arithmetic mean of all the observations which were made 
there during that month; and from these means alone Table IV has been con¬ 
structed, in the way adopted and described in previous papers. This table 
gives the mean temperature of the sea thus obtained during the months of the 
year at nine places on the coast of Scotland. The time (about eight years) is 
sufficiently long for a pretty close approximation to the mean temperature; and 
the table possesses further value, seeing it contains only the results of observa¬ 
tions. 

But many interesting questions arise out of a comparison of the results 
obtained at different stations; and it is evident that no nice comparisons could 
be satisfactorily made, or reliable conclusions drawn, unless with observations 


240 


Xotc. 

25 . carried ou at the different places over the same years, and made on the same 

(Con’d ) days of the month. For a single observation made in a month, though valuable 
as an observation, cannot, in most cases, be accepted as the mean temperature 
of the sea for that month. Thus, at Harris, in October, 1862, the temperature 
tv as 54° on the 12th an d 44°.G on the 21st, the mean temperature of the month 
being 50°.8. Daily observations, during the whole time, were made only at 
Harris and west of Oban stations, the vessels employed on the survey affording 
facility for such observations. But when, as happened in some cases, the 
observer resided some miles from the place of observation, the number of obser¬ 
vations were necessarily limited. 

Since observations were made four times a day at Harris, from 1st Novem¬ 
ber, 1858, to 30th November, 1863, this place and period of time have been fixed 
upon as the standard to which the observations at the other places have been 
brought. The method by which Table Y, giving the results, was constructed, 
will be best explained by the following example: At Sandwich, during Novem¬ 
ber, 1858, the temperature of the sea was taken on the 1st, 8th, 13th, 19th, and 
28th of the month, giving 49°.6 as the mean temperature of the month. The 
temperatures at Harris on the same days were extracted from the schedule; these 
observations gave the mean temperature at Harris to be 49°.0. This operation 
was performed for each of the other sixty months of the period, and thus monthly 
means were obtained for Harris, strictly comparable with the means deduced 
from the Sandwich observations, both series being made exactly on the same 
days throughout. These monthly means for Harris and Sandwich are given in 
Table I, to which is added the monthly difference for Sandwick. The monthly 
temperatures of Sandwich, given in Table Y, were then obtained by applying to 
the Harris temperatures the above monthly differences. The means for the 
other stations were calculated in the same way as those for Sandwich. Table 
Y, therefore, gives what would have been the mean temperatures, if daily 
observations had been made at.each of the nine stations, from 1st November, 
1858, to 30th November, 1863. 

Daily Range of the Temperature of the Sea at Harris.—Table II. 

Observations to determine the daily range or horary variation of the tem¬ 
perature of the sea were made at Harris only. The temperatures were observed 
on fifty-two months, on the 21st or 22d of the month. The fluctuations of the 
temperature of the sea are chiefly determined by the changes of the temperature 
of the air. The only disturbing influence arises from currents of the sea, and 
occurs seldom; and when it does occur the effect is very slight. Hence the fluc¬ 
tuation varies considerably from day to day, both as regards the amount and 
the times of occurrence of the daily maximum and minimum temperature. The 
amount is greatest when the weather changes on, or immediately preceding the 
day of observation, and least when the temperature of the air has varied little 
for some time. The greatest amount that was observed occurred on the 21st 
October, 1862, when the temperature was 44°.5 at noon, and 50°. 1 at 6 a. m. the 
following morning, having thus varied 5°.G in eighteen hours; and on the 21st 
November, 1859, when it was 45°.3 at 10 a, m., and 50°.6 at 6 a. m. of the fol¬ 
lowing morning, having thus risen 5°.3 in twenty hours. But the range on any 
particular day is rarely so much as 3°.0. On twenty-nine out of the" fifty-two 


241 


days it was less than IP; on twelve days it was between 1° and 2° • on seven °ll. 
days between 2° and 3°; and on four days only above 3?. On six of the days it (Con a.) 
varied only two-tenths of a degree. 

The mean daily range for the months and the year is a point of considerable 
interest, since it supplies the correction, if any, to be applied to series of obser¬ 
vations made at different hours of the day, to reduce them to the mean tempera¬ 
ture of the day. It is evident that, as the number of observations is increased 
of which the mean is taken, the mean of any month thus determined will con¬ 
tinue to fall more and more below such high means as 2°, or even 1°, until a 
sufficient number of observations have been obtained to give the true mean 
daily range. Since none of the means of the months in Table II include more 
than five years, the means of most of the months must be expected to be too 
great. Thus November, 1°.3; July, 1°.1$ January, April, and May, 0°.9, are 
all doubtless too great. If, however, we combine the months into the seasons, 
the number of observations for determining the true means is largely increased, 
and thus the mean daily range of winter becomes 0°.4, and of the other seasons 
0°.G. Again, by combining the seasons into the year, and taking the means of 
the different hours, the mean daily range of the temperature of the sea for the 
year, as a whole, is found to be only 0°.32 by the term-day observations. 

The mean daily range has been determined in a different way. The daily 
maximum of the sea is reached about 3 p. m., and the minimum was observed 
directly, both of which means, deduced from 2,080 daily observations, are given 
in Table III. The difference gives the approximate mean daily range, which is 
valuable as giving more exactly the mean daily range of the different months. 

If these figures be laid down in a curve, it will be seen that there are two maxima 
and two minima periods in the year. The longest maximum occurs from April 
to August, culminating in June, 0°.72j and the shortest in December and Janu¬ 
ary, culminating in December, 0°.82. The first minimum period is in February 
and March, 0°.38; and the second in September, October, and November, 0°.36. 

Hence the greatest daily variation of the temperature of the sea takes place 
when the sun’s rays are exerting their greatest heating power, and again when 
the winter cold has begun to set in with greatest severity. The least variation 
occurs when the sun has begun to decline, and frosts are slight and of rare 
occurrence$ and again when the sea has been cooled to its lowest point, and the 
sun has scarcely yet begun to raise its temperature. 

These two modes, by which the mean daily range for the year has been cal¬ 
culated, must not be confounded together. For in determining the mean daily 
range from the term-day observations, the mean temperature of each hour is . 
first ascertained, and the difference of the warmest and coldest hour is considered 
as the range. But when the range is determined from the minimum tempera¬ 
tures, the lowest temperature of each day is taken, at whatever hour or instant 
it may occur. In this case every daily minimum is found, and tells on the final 
result. Not so, however, in the case of the term-day observations; for with 
regard to these the minimum of any day is found only when it happens at the 
hour of observation, and when it is observed, tells on the final result only when 
it takes place at the mean time of its occurrence. Hence, while the mean daily 
range deduced from the minimum temperatures is 0°.57, it is only 0°.32 from the 
term-day observations. For the same reason the mean daily range of the air, 

31 


242 


Note. • 

25 . 5°.8, would have been about a degree more if it had been deduced from maxi- 

(Con’d.) xnum and minimum observations. 

It follows, then, that the mean temperature of the sea, on a series of years, 
as observed with a common thermometer, cannot to any appreciable extent be 
modified by the hour at which the observations are made; and consequently all 
the observations of the different stations, though made at different hours, may 
be considered to be quite comparable to each other. 

From the means of the year in Table II, we observe that the sea reaches its 
maximum daily temperature about four in the afternoon, and falls to its mini¬ 
mum temperature about half-past five in the morning. The maximum occurs a 
little earlier during the winter months, and a little later during the summer 
months. The minimum occurs about 8 a. in. during the winter, and about 3.30 
a. m. during summer ; or, generally speaking, near sunrise. Since the maximum 
occurs at 4 p. m., and the minimum at 5.30 a. in., it follows that the sea parts 
with the heat it receives from the sun more slowly than it acquires it. 

Daily Range of the Temperature of the Sea and Air Compared.—Table II. 

The range of the temperature of the air is always greater—generally very 
much greater—than that of the sea. Thus, while the greatest range observed 
in the sea on any of the days was 5°.6, a range of 21° was observed in the tem¬ 
perature of the air on the 21st May, 1862. On that day the temperature was 
60°.8 at 6 p. m., and at 3 a. m. it had fallen to 39°.8, having thus fallen 21° in 
nine hours. A daily range of from 12° to 20° in the temperature of the air 
which is resting on the sea is not an unusual occurrence ; and the air in inland 
situations is subject to much greater fluctuation. 

Again, the mean daily range of the air during the seasons, each of which is 
deduced from about twelve days’ observations, is as follows, beginning with 
winter: 1°.6, 7°.9, 7°.5, and 3°.l; while the mean change of temperature of 
the sea is only about half a degree. The mean daily range, during the year, is 
5°.8; and as it has been deduced from fifty-two. days’ observations, recurring 
regularly every month, 5°.8 may be assumed as the mean daily range 5 and the 
corrections given in Table II as the corrections to be applied to observations 
made regularly with common thermometers, in the west, at any particular hour, 
so as to deduce from the mean of these observations the mean temperature of 
the year. These corrections will be smaller during the winter months, and 
larger during the summer months; but the amount of the correction for each 
month cannot be determined from this Table, because the number of observa¬ 
tions are too few, considering that the changes of temperature are so irregular 
in their occurrence. 

From these observations it appears that the mean temperature of the air 
occurs a little before nine in the morning and a little before eight in the even¬ 
ing. The maximum temperature occurs about 3 p. m., and the minimum about 
3 a. m. Since the maximum and minimum temperatures of the sea occur 
respectively at 4 p. m. and 5.30 a. m., it follows that the extreme temperatures 
of the sea occur from one hour to two and one-half hours later than those of the 
air. The temperature of the sea reaches its annual maximum temperature about 
the middle of August, and its minimum temperature in the last week of Febru- 
ary; and about the 21st of May and the 10 th of November the temperature is 
about the mean of the year, or 48Q.9. The mean temperature of the air occurs 


243 


Note* 

about the beginning of May and middle of October; the maximum in the third 25. 
week of July, and the minimum about the beginning or middle of January. (Con’d.) 
Hence these periods occur from three to four weeks later in the ocean than in 
the air. The mean temperature of the sea is about a degree above the mean 
temperature of the air, as determined by these sixteen observations a day during 
fifty-two months. 

In comparing the mean monthly temperatures in Table II with those in 
Table III, it must be kept in view that Table II gives the mean temperature of 
the 21st of the month, and Table III of the 15th, or middle of the month. 
Hence, in those months during which the temperature is increasing, the means 
of Table II exceed those of Table III, and in the other months fall short of them. 

Monthly Temperature of the Sea at Harris.—Table III. 

The highest mean temperature of any month, 57°.4, occurred in August, 

1859, and the lowest, 41°.2, in February, 1860, showing a difference of 16°.2. 

The three warmest months in order are, beginning with the warmest, August, 

July, and September; and the three coldest, February, March, and January. 

The months during which the greatest change of temperature occurs are Octo¬ 
ber, November, December, and January, when the temperature makes the 
great annual fall; and April, May, and June, when it makes the great annual 
rise. These months also exhibit the greatest fluctuations and variations 
of temperature, the increase or decrease being then frequently delayed or inter¬ 
rupted. The greatest difference in the mean temperature of any month, from 
year to year, occurs in July; in 1859 it was 56°.8, and in 1862 it was 52°*0, show¬ 
ing thus a difference of 4°.8. A comparison of September with June will show 
the interesting fact that, as regards the temperature of the sea in the west, Sep¬ 
tember is, in every way, to be preferred to June, its mean temperature and its 
lowest mean having been 2° warmer. 

The mean annual temperature of the sea, at Harris, was 49°.6 in 1859; 47°.5 
in I860;. 49°.l in 1861; 48°.8 in 1862; and 49°.2 in 1863, showing thus a differ¬ 
ence of 2o.l in the annual variation. The mean temperature of the air, in the 
west, in these same years, was 48°.l, 450.7, 48°. 1, 470.4, and 470.9, showing an 
annual variation of 2°.4. Again, at Harris, in 1860, the temperature of the air 
in March, April, and May, was 41°.4,450.2, and 510.0; while, in the same months, 
that of the sea was 42o.3, 43°.3, and 45o.7, showing a rise of 9°.6 in the temper¬ 
ature of the air, but only 30.4 in that of the sea. If compared during successive 
days, the differences would be much more striking. Hence, though the differ¬ 
ences of the temperature of successive days be much less in the case of the sea 
than of the air, and even of successive months considerably less, yet the differ- . 
ences of the mean temperatures of the sea and air of successive years closely 
approximate to each other. This shows that, though the sea soon begins to be 
influenced by a change in the temperature of the air, a long time must elapse 
before the change be completely effected. 

Temperature of the Sea at different Depths.—Table III. 

There are two sets of observations to illustrate this point, the one giving a 
comparison 1 foot with 24 feet, and the other 6 feet with 60 feet. Both obser¬ 
vations were made during the summer months. As regards extreme tempera- 


244 


Note. 

25 . tares at these depths, it will be seen that, during the time the temperature was 

(Con’d.) increasing, the temperature at 1 foot was about 1° above that at 24 feet deep; 
but the temperature at 6 feet was 2° above that at 60 feet deep. The mean dif¬ 
ferences were about half the above. 

When the temperature was falling, in September and October, the mean 
temperature, at a depth of 24 feet, was 1° warmer than at 1 foot, and about 
0°.8 warmer at 60 feet than at 6 feet. This is instructive, and shows the value 
of observation over theoretical deductions; for theory might have led to the 
supposition that the warmer water would have floated on the top of the colder. 
The explanation is, that at this time the water of the sea is not in a state of 
equilibrium; that a disturbing agent is at work, (the cooling of the surface- 
water,) causing a continual descent of the colder and therefore heavier particles, 
and an ascent of the warmer and lighter particles to supply their place—a pro¬ 
cess which goes on as long as the surface is colder than any of the underlying 
watery strata. The difference between the temperature of the surface and that 
of several fathoms below the surface, shows forcibly the long time required in 
effecting a complete correspondence between the temperature of the sea and that 
■ of the air; for being brought about by upward and downward currents, the dif¬ 
ference of whose temperatures is very small, the motion of the currents and the 
interchange of temperature resulting therefrom must proceed at a very slow rate. 

Extreme Temperatures observed at different Places.—Table IV. 

The highest temperature observed, up to 31st August, 1865, was 61°.5, at 
Otter House, in July, 1859; and the lowest 33°.7, at Trinity Chain Pier, in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1865, the difference being 27°.8. The temperature of 63°.0 was recorded 
at Westhaven, in September, 1858. A comparison of the mean temperature of 
the sea at Westhaven with the mean temperature at the other stations, during 
April, May, June, and July, (Tables IY and Y,) shows an excess of about 3° at 
Westhaven. The temperature is very carefully taken by Mr. Proctor, each 
observation being verified by repetition three times. At full tide the tempera¬ 
ture is taken 22 yards from the coast line, and at ebb tide 500 yards, always 
where the undisturbed body of sea-water is either gently ebbing or flowing, or 
rolling in on the shore in huge broken waves. The tide advances and recedes 
over sandstone rocks, inclined seaward at an angle of 30°, thickly strewn with 
transported boulders of every variety of size and mineral character, and covered 
with a rich marine flora. This tidal slope is always wet, even at low water. 
Immediately to the west, opposite to Carnoustie, the tidal slope is fine, yellow 
sand, sloping at an angle of 15°, which, being quite dry at ebb tide, becomes 
greatly heated by solar radiation, and cooled by radiation during the night. Is 
the anomalously high temperature at Westhaven due to some local sea current 
setting in from the heated sands at Carnoustie? This supposition is rendered 
more probable by the consideration that the excess of temperature takes place 
during those months when the direct heating power of the sun’s rays most 
exceeds the temperature of the sea. These observations do not, therefore, give 
the temperature of the North Sea during the summer months, but they are val¬ 
uable as having an important bearing on the local climate of the district. On 
the east and west the highest temperature at each station is about 60°; but in 
the north, at Stornoway and Sand wick, where the strength of the sun’s rays is 
less, it is 2° or 3° less. But the greatest differences exist between the lowest 


245 


Note. 

temperatures of the west and the east. In the west the lowest temperature 25 . 
observed was 39°.l, at Harris, in January, 1862; while in the east, at Trinity (Con’d.) 
Chain Pier, the temperature of the sea fell to 33°.7 in February, 1865. 

Distribution of Sea Temperature round Scotland.—Table V. 

Annual Temperature. —The observations in the west are from five places, 
beginning with Otter House in the south, in latitude 55° 58' N., to Sandwick in 
the north, in latitude 58° 2' N. They thus extend over two degrees of latitude. 

Does latitude appear to affect the annual temperature? The annual tempera¬ 
tures, in the order of their latitudes, are as follows: Otter House, 49.02; Oban, 

48.72; Harris, 48.89; Stornoway, 49.05; and Sandwick, 48.85. The difference of 
these numbers is so slight that we may conclude that the annual temperature of 
the sea along the coast of Scotland is practically uniform, from the Clyde to the 
Orkney Islands. Observations were made daily at Bressay Light house, Shet¬ 
land, for one year, beginning with April, 1857, and ending with March, 1858. 

The result gives the annual mean of Sandwick, 49°.9; and of Bressay, 49°.4. 

Thus, for this year, Bressay sea-temperature was half a degree less than that of 
Sandwick. It is, however, probable that, if the observations had been continued 
for a number of years, the difference between the two places would have been 
less than half a degree. It is very desirable that observations of sea-tempera¬ 
ture were made in the southwest of Scotland, off the coast of Wigtownshire, and 
in the north of Shetland, in order to ascertain if any material difference exists 
in the temperature of the sea at these two extreme points. 

There is, however, a great difference in temperature between the Atlantic 
and the North Sea. Leaving out Westhaven, for reasons already given, the 
annual temperature of the sea at Dunbar and North Berwick is 47°.8, or l°.l 
less than that of the Atlantic. The same fact is shown by the daily observations 
made by Captain Thomas at Trinity Chain Pier, which began in March, 1864. 

In the following Table they are compared with Otter House and Sandwick: 


Mean temperature of the sea at Trinity Chain Pier, Otter House , and Sandwich , from 1st March , 

1864, to 31 st August , 1865. 



January. 

February. 

March. 

April. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

September. 

October. 

November. 

December. 

Year. 

Trinity Chain Pier. 

Otter House. 

Sandwick. 

39-4 

43-8 

44.1 

36.4 

42.2 

42.6 

38.7 

42.8 

42.2 

43-8 

45-2 

43-4 

49.0 

46 .S 

44.9 

53-7 

50.4 

49-7 

56.0 

55-3 

S 2 -S 

56.2 

54-8 

54-2 

53-6 

53- 6 

54- o 

49.6 

52.0 

51-6 

44.9 

49.8 

49.0 

43-8 

46.4 

49.1 

47. 1 

48.6 

48.1 


These mean temperatures, at Trinity Chain Pier 47°.l, at Otter House 48°.6, 
and at Sandwick 48°.l, fully bear out the conclusion already arrived at, that 
the temperature of the Atlantic is fully a degree above that of the North Sea. 


Comparison of the Mean Temperature of the Sea with that of Air round the Coast 
, of Scotland. 

The mean annual temperature of the air on the east coast of Scotland, south 
of the Moray Firth, is 47°.l; and on the west coast, south of Skye, 48°.0; in 























246 


Note. 

25 . the Pentland Firtli it is 46°.6; at Stornoway, in Lewis, 46°.l; at Sand wick, in 
(Con’d.) Orkney, 45°.9; and at Bressay, in Shetland, 45°.4. The sea, therefore, is every¬ 
where warmer than the air. In the east, 0°.7$ in the west, 0°.9j in Lewis, 2°.9; 
and in Orkney, 3°.0. Thus the temperature of the west is above that of the 
east, both sea and air being about a degree higher. Part of the excess of the 
temperature of the sea is probably due to the fact that all the low temperatures 
of the air are fully registered by the thermometer, because cold air being heavy, 
settles on the ground where the instruments are$ whereas a portion of the cold 
of radiation formed on the surface of the sea is constantly escaping to depths 
greater than 6 feet, at which the temperatures are taken. 

The great excess of the temperature of the sea over that of the air in the 
north is perhaps the most remarkable fact in the meteorology of Scotland. It 
is a difference, moreover, as the following table will show, which may be con¬ 
sidered constant from year to year: 



1857 - 

1858 . 

1859 . 

i 860 . 

1861 . 

1862 . 

1863 . 

1864 . 

Mean annual temperature of sea at Sandwick... 

49-5 

49.4 

49.4 

47-5 

48.6 ■ 

48.6 

48.8 

48.1 

Mean annual temperature of air at Sandwick.. 

47-5 

46.0 

45-7 

44.1 

46.3 

45-8 

46.4 

45-5 

Mean annual difference. 

2.0 

3-4 

3-7 

3-4 

2-3 

2.8 

2.4 

2.6 


This Table teaches, if examined closely, the slowness with which changes in 
the temperature of the air are completely propagated through the waters of the 
ocean in those northern parts where the power of the sun’s rays is greatly dimin¬ 
ished. During the first four years the annual temperature of the air continually 
fell from year to year, as compared with the first year, to the extent of 1°.5 in 
the second year, 1°.8 in the third year, and 3°.4 in the fourth year; but during 
the same years the temperature of the sea only fell 0°.l, 0°.l, and 2°.0. In 1861 the 
air rose 2°.2; but the sea rose only l°.l, and remained stationary in the next 
year, while the air fell half a degree. In 1863 air and sea respectively rose 0°.6 
and 0°.2; and in 1864 fell 0°.9 and 0°.7. 

When the tendency of the temperature of the sea to follow that of the air is 
considered, it can scarcely admit of a doubt that, if the waters of the sea were sta¬ 
tionary round Orkney from year to year, their temperature would ultimately fall 
to that of the air, or at least to about half a degree of it. But this is not the case $ 
there is some influence at work keeping the temperature of the sea 3°.0 above 
that of the incumbent air. The enormous amount of heat sufficient to maintain 
the whole waters of the sea in the north from 2° to 3° above the air, must be 
brought from warmer latitudes by currents of some sort or other. Since, then, a 
sea current from the south must be conceded, what is the agent employed ? 

In answering this question it is impossible to avoid the discussion of the 
Gulf Stream. The two questions presented are: Will a surface-current, gen¬ 
erated by the prevailing S. W. winds, be sufficient to account for, not merely the 
drifting of objects floating on the sea to the northeastward, and stranding them 
on the coasts of Great Britain and Norway, but for maintaining the temperature 
of the sea in the north of Scotland 2° or 3° above that of the air? Or, to 
explain the phenomenon, must we have recourse to that mighty ocean current 
which, issuing from the Straits of Florida, flows northward to Newfoundland, 
and then spreads itself eastward over the Atlantic ? 














247 


Let it be assumed tbat a surface-current of warm waters is brought from 25 . 
warmer latitudes by the S. W. winds sufficient for the purpose. In this case we (Con’d.) 
should expect at no great depth a great difference between the temperature and 
that of the surface. The observations at 60 feet deep, as compared with 6 feet, 

(see Table III,) do not countenance this supposition. Though they unfortu¬ 
nately extend only over four months, yet so far as they go they point to an 
equality in the mean annual temperature at those depths. But, again, if a cur¬ 
rent to the northeast he produced hy the S. W. winds , that current must necessarily 
he fed from some source to the S. W. of Great Britain, somewhere in the Atlantic 
between Spain and America. Now, as is well known, two great currents are 
constantly pouring their water into this space; the one bringing the cold 
water of the Arctic regions, the other the warm waters of the Tropics; and 
the line of their junction is in certain places so well marked that, in crossing it 
in May, 1861, Admiral Sir Alexander Milne found the temperature at the stern 
of H. M. S. Nile to be 40°.0, and at the bow 70°.0, the difference being 30°.0. 

Since the tendency of the Arctic Current, on account of its greater density, is to 
become an under-current and be overlaid by the warmer, and therefore lighter 
current, it is only fair and reasonable to suppose that that current which flows 
northward past the shores of Great Britain is fed by the warm waters of the 
Gulf Stream; in other words is part of it. Its passage is no doubt slow; but we 
have seen from the slow rate at which the temperature of the sea is brought to a 
complete correspondence with that of the air, that though it took some months 
to traverse the distance from Wigtownshire to Orkney, it would still carry with 
it enough of its original heat to keep its temperature above that of the air. 

Additional matter bearing on this interesting discussion has just appeared 
in the Twelfth Number of Meteorological Papers , published by authority of the 
Board of Trade. In the first chart, the mean temperature of the surface water of 
the ocean, of each square of ten degrees of latitude and longitude, is given. 

From this chart it appears that if a line be drawn from Cuba through the At¬ 
lantic, in the direction of the Faroe Islands, it will pass through higher temper¬ 
atures than prevail to the eastward or westward of it—a circumstance pointing 
to a general flow of the waters in that direction northward. 


Mean Temperature of the Months at the different Stations. 


The chief point of interest, under this head, is the difference which obtains 
between the temperature of the Atlantic and that of the North Sea, during the 
summer and winter months. From October to March the west is at least 2° 
above the east, and in January it amounts to It is an event happening 

only once in a number of years, for the temperature of the sea in the west to fall 
below 40°; but in the east this happens every year, and in February of the 
present year it fell to 33°.7. It is to this high winter-temperature that the west 
owes the excellence of its winter-climate, as is evinced by the low rate of mor¬ 
tality during this season, and the luxuriant growth of many of the less hardy 
plants in the open air. 

In May, June, July, and September the temperature of the North Sea is 
about a degree above that of the Atlantic, which is of course due to the heat 


248 


Note. 

as. absorbed by the continent of Europe in summer, and to the comparative sliallow- 
(Con’d.) ness 0 f the North Sea. The mean temperature of the sea being 2° or 3^ colder 
than the air from May to August, moderates to a marked degree the summer- 
climate of the British Islands. 

The maximum and minimum for the year occur earlier in the east than in 
the west, and earlier in the west than in the north. In Orkney these periods are 
delayed fully a month; and it is remarkable that, in these northern parts, the 
temperature of the sea is about as high in September as in August, as high in 
October as in July, and nearly as high in December as in May. 


Table I .—Observations of sea temperature at Sandwich, Oban, Otter House, Westhaven, North Berwick, Dunbar, compared with those taken on the same days 

at Harris, from November, 1858, to November, 1863. 


249 


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Table III .—Showing the temperature of the sea at Harris (Outer Hebrides) from observations made from June , 1858, to November , 1863 Continued. 


253 


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Table V .—Calculated mean temperature of the sea at a depth of six feet at nine stations on the coast of Scotland, on a mean of five years , from November , 1858 

to November , 1863, inclusive. 


255 



»0 »n Oi Cl • N a N mm 

CO O CO • 0 Ol CO CO ONOOO 

i. ii-i. : % °i $ $ i £ 

• 1 

•uumjny 

09 N 10 00 co O 

Whhn.h Oioo MOH 

IO IO 10 u> . 10 ^ 10 10 1010 

: I 

•jauiuing 

Ol O O CO CO H NNVO 

n co co Tt- co -*i- 6 

10 CO 10 or) co io li~) 10 to 1010 

+ 

•Suudg 

ON ^ VO 

t IO t 

^ ^ 

0 00 00 CO 00 VO 

vo 4- 4- vo 4* 6 

^ ^ ^ >*- -<*- 

1 


H 0 00 VO 

in 10 t t 

'l- 

vo 0 vo H 00 CO vo 

rf 6mm 4- m CO 

’t - ^ ^ 

1 

•J3qUI303Q 

00 Oj ^ ^ 

VO VO VO VO 
t ■t t t 

^ 00 On *t 00 vo 

VO WWW vo N co 

Tt* Tf ^ -<f '<*- 

1 

•J3qUI3AO£J 

00 0 CO ON 

ON 00 00 ON 

^ ^ Tt* 

\ 

w vo 00 co 00 vo c* 

00 vo VO 00 vo CO 

^ "'fr- ’'*•-<** 

1 

•jaqopo 

N VO 

CO M H 6 
# VO 10 LO VO 

CO M ON ON 0 co t*s 

6 6 n 6 6 6 6 h 

VO ^ vo vo vo vo 

1 

•jaqraa^das 

ON ON H VO ON ^ t%lOW VO-^OO 

t t t m "t lovovo rt-ino 

lO VO VO VO VO VO 10 VO vo VO VO 

+ 

•;snSny 

t** ft <4- N CO H 

VO VO VO VO VO VO vo VO VO vo VO 0 

VO VO vo vo VO vo vo vo vo iovo 

+ 

•Ainf 

CO vo 00 CO ON vo 0 W On ^ vo h 

fO vo t M fO t 00 VO VO rt-vOH 

to vo vo vo vo iO vo vo vo 10 vo 

+ 

•aunf 

M CO On 0 On ^ N vo -<f rt- 0 

O w h h 6 0 * vowcJ mc!h 

vo vo vo vo VO vo vo vo vo 10 vo 

+ 


H ON H CO 0 HIOOl 0 CO CO 

N 00 N ts vo on N 00 CO 00006 

vo ^ rt- Tf Tj- 

+ 

•iudy 

on co c-* vo 

co 10 ^ co 
*<t- ^ -<t- 

vo vo N VO Nh N 

vo vo -4- -<*- 4-4-6 

**■ ^ ^ ^ '<t* 

1 


W vo vo 0 

CO CO CO CO 

T*- 'c*- 

00 CO N Tt- ^ CO H 

CO N H M CO H N 

^t* "4- 

1 

•AjBnjq3jj 

VO N vo 

CO CO CO « 

^ Tt- 

CO ON N H CO Nt- ON 

co h d 6 rn d ci 

1 

•AjBnuBf 

On 0 

vo 4- 4- 
^ ^ 

N CO 0 VO 00 Ol 

MHO O CO 

1 

Stations. 

• • • • 

• . • • p 

• • • ■ « 

“ • • * i 

: : : : c 

j >> : : ^ 

rM Ctf * • *J 

0 fe • • v. 

.j. !> . . 4 ; 

te O V) • t. 

1 •§ S ‘S S * 

1 a g £ 1 * 

8 M OT S O 

£ 

Otter House. 

East— 

Westhaven. 

North Berwick. 

Dunbar. 

Mean of west. 

Mean of east, (N. Berwick ; Dunbar). 

Difference. 


p 

be. 


Xol«. 

25. 


(Con'd.) 















































256 


Notes. 

*26-30. 26 See tlie preceding note. 

27. . 27 Only tlie observations of Sandwick and Stornoway go as far as 18G9$ those 

at the other stations reach only to 1865. Compare Molin, “ Temperature de la 
Mer,” &c., pp. 3 and 6. Sandwick lies on one of the Orkney Islands, in latitude 
59° 2' N., longitude 3° 48' W. of Greenwich. It is not marked on the charts 
generally in use. 

28 . 28 Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society, new series, Nos. xix and 
xx, October, 1864, p. 215. 

29. 29 Letter dated Edinburgh, October 4, 1869, (manuscript.) 

30. 30 Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. London, v, 1860 and 1861, 
p. 233. The table of Dr. Thorsteinson’s observations at Reikiavik was presented 
to the Society with the following memoir: 

Currents and Ice-Drifts on the Coasts of Iceland. By Captain C. Irminger , of 

the Danish Navy. 

In the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean the surface-water sets steadily 
with a gentle flow toward the north. Coming, as it does, from more heated 
regions,- and being constantly provided by fresh supplies of heated water, it 
maintains, as is well known, a moderating influence on the climate of the coasts 
which are washed by it. 

Between IcelaniVand Norway this current takes a northeasterly direction to 
the Icy Sea, but without touching the extreme eastern coast of Iceland. It tem¬ 
pers the climate of the Faroe Islands, Shetland, &c., and its influence is so con¬ 
siderable on the coasts of Norway that harbors, even up to the North Cape, 
(which is in about 71° latitude N.,) admit shipping the whole year round 5 while 
in the coldest time of winter it is only the innermost of the smaller bays in the 
fiords that are covered with ice. 

To the westward of the meridian that halves Iceland, the current from the 
south runs in a northwesterly, or even more northerly direction, until it is 
stopped by the current from the sea around Spitzbergen. This “Arctic current” 
runs southwest; it passes the northwest coast of Iceland on its way to Green¬ 
land, along whose coast it makes its way, and rounds Cape Farewell. The first, 
mentioned current from the Atlantic Ocean washes the southwest and west 
coasts of Iceland, and is found to run true N. 33° W., at the rate of 1.19 nautical 
miles in 24 hours, throughout an area extending between longitude 18° W., lat¬ 
itude 62° N., and the south coast of Iceland toward Cape Reikianas; but, west 
of Iceland, between latitudes 64° 15' and 65° 50' N. and longitudes 23° 51' and 
25° 48' W., to run N. 15° W., at 4.8 nautical miles in 24 hours. 

During a protracted stay on the west coast of Iceland, I had frequently 
been convinced of the fact, well known to fishermen there, that the current 
along the west coast of Iceland, in addition to a regular ebb and flood, consider¬ 
ably preponderates toward the north. 

The annexed table, representing the temperature of the surface of the sea in 
June, 1846, shows where the warmer current, running northward on the west 


257 


STote. 

side of Iceland, met the cold current from the Icy Sea off the northwest coast of 30. 
Iceland. r Ihe man-of-war brig, St. Croix, Captain Suenson, found the tempera- ( Con ’ d -) 
ture of the sea— 


Date. 1 Latitude N. Longitude W. 

Fahrenheit. 

1846. 

June 23, 6 p. m. 

0 / * 1 -.o / 

65 54 25 05 

66 22 | 26 13 

66 30 26 14 

66 17 25 39 

66 S3 25 ii 

65 38 | 24 17 

49.1 

35-6* 

32-5 

37-6 

46.4 

47-5 

June 24, 6 a. m. 

“ “ 9 a. m. 

w “ noon. 

11 u 4 p. m. 

“ “ 8 p. m. 



* Drift ice in sight to the N. E. 

The current which comes from the Atlantic not only moderates the climate 
of the southwesterly and westerly coasts of Iceland, but is also the cause why 
the so-called u Greenland ice,” which is constantly found driving toward Green¬ 
land and along its eastern shores, does not visit the west and south coasts of 
Iceland. There, even if the greater part of the fiords and coves should be frozen 
up in a severe winter, the fishermen can keep their fishing going throughout the 
whole year in the two great bays, Faxe- and Brede-bugt, because these bays 
never freeze up, owing to the influence of the warm Atlantic current. Again, 
although the days in the latitude of Iceland are very short in winter, and the 
weather stormy, yet the vessel that carries the mail has succeeded, even in the 
middle of winter, in carrying on its voyages with regularity between Havne 
Fiord (at Faxebugt) and England. It has never been stopped, either by-the 
Greenland ice or by the ice from the fiords or the coves. 

Warm currents do not moderate the climate of the northwest, north, and 
east coasts of Iceland; on the contrary, these parts of the island are exposed to 
the cold currents from the Icy Sea, which frequently bring ice from the sea and 
around Spitzbergen, by which navigation is frequently impeded to the greater 
part of the harbors here situated. 

Though ebb and flood exist 011 all the coasts of Iceland, yet the current 
prevails from west to east near the north coast; possibly the cause of this is that a 
portion of the Arctic current impinges against that part of the northwest coast 
of Iceland which turns its face to the Icy Sea, and produces an eddy which runs 
to the eastward along the north coast of Iceland, in a nearly opposite direction 
to the principal stream of the Arctic current farther north. 

Likewise, on the east coast of Iceland, the current is chiefly formed by an 
eddy prevailing, in certain seasons at least, to the southward—a direction nearly 
contrary to the principal current which, as before mentioned, sets to the north¬ 
east between Iceland and Norway. The wind has, however, much influence on 
the direction of this coast-eddy; for though it is usually much easier to beat 
to the southward than northward, through the help of this current, yet it 
does not escape the attention of the fishermen, who every year are lying on the 
fishing-banks along the east coast, that the current may prevail to the north when 
there is blowing weather from the southwest and south. 

To give an idea of the force of the Arctic current, I only need to call to mind 
33 


















258 


Nolo. 

30. 

(Con’d.) 


some of tlie many whalers which, while being beset in various times, were carried 
along by it, together with the ice in which they were imbedded. 

For instance, in 1777, many whalers were inclosed by the ice between Spitz- 
bergen and Jan-Mayen, and they were driven, while beset, in four months to 
Cape Farewell, a distance of 1,400 nautical miles, with an average speed of 
between 11 and 12 miles in 24 hours. • 

W. Scoresby mentions (Yol. I, p. 213) several cases in which ships, being 
beset between Spitzbergen and Greenland, were drifted along with the ice 
toward the southwest or southwest by south. One was a case in which a vessel 
drifted 182 miles in 13 days, giving a mean of 14 miles per 24 hours; another, in 
9 days 120 miles, or 13 miles in 24 hours; a third, 420 miles in 49 days, or 8.7 
miles in 24 hours; and a fourth case, 1,300 miles in 108 days, averaging 12 miles 
per day. The mean of all these cases gives 11.9 miles in 24 hours; and it can 
therefore be assumed, without much risk of error, that the mean rapidity of the 
Arctic current is 11 or 12 miles in 24 hours, at least during the season of navi¬ 
gation. 

It is a well-known fact that the situation of the ice in the Icy Sea is subject 
to considerable changes from one year to another, for where an impenetrable ice- 
barrier was found in one year, vessels could sail in another year several degrees 
farther without being stopped by the ice; and, on the other hand, where the sea 
was void of ice in one year, it might be impossible to penetrate so far north in 
the succeeding one. 

The amount of the ice-drift may thus be very different one year from another, 
and in proportion as the masses are greater which are carried away by the Arc¬ 
tic current from the Icy Sea, the more will the strait between northwest Iceland 
and* Greenland become filled with it. Ice is nearly always met with here by 
fishermen, who ply every year from the harbors of the northwest coast of Ice¬ 
land; they usually fall in with drift-ice in the strait between Iceland and Green¬ 
land, at from 40 or 00 to 80 miles from Iceland. 

This ice-drift is frequently much more considerable. In such cases it fills 
not only the strait between the northwest coast of Iceland and Greenland, so that 
for long together it is ittqmssible to round Cape North, but it also incloses the 
whole coast to unknown limits northward and far to the eastward. To give an 
idea of the vast extent of an ice-drift like this, I may mention that the distance 
between Iceland and Greenland is at least 160 nautical miles, and assuming the 
rapidity of the current at only 11 miles in 24 hours, it will follow on calculation 
that a mass of ice of not less than between 1,700 and 1,800 square nautical miles 
in area will have been carried away to the southwest every. 24 hours from 
between north west Iceland and Greenland. 

This so-named Greenland drift-ice consists for the greater part of fields of 
ice, often piled on one another; these have been produced on the surface of the 
sea, sometimes to a thickness of five or six fathoms. Secondly, it consists of 
swimming icebergs, loosened from glaciers, and fallen into the sea. Their size is 
sometimes so considerable that they have been seen grounded in more than 80 
fathoms water. 

When this ice, carried by the Arctic current, arrives at the coasts of Iceland, 
it brings with it a cold very prejudicial to vegetation. Usually the ice appears 
first on the coast near Cape North; it then drifts on the northwest coast inclos¬ 
ing the fiords between Patricks and Ise-Fiord; and it will happen, though 


259 


rarely, that part of this ice passed Fugle or Staalbierghuk, and drives in the 
direction of Bredebugt. The north coast of Iceland is then more or less inclosed; 
a considerable drift sets down to the bay of Skagestrand, and occasionally 
reaches even to the eastward of Langenaes, whence the current carries it upon 
the east coast of the island; and as the ice on the north as well as on the east, 
coast is usually more compact than oft* the northwest fiords, the navigation 
there is sometimes wholly impeded from January to February until the following 
summer-time. When there is much ice on the east coast of Iceland, it may 
happen that some of it will drive round the south side of the island, though this 
never hinders navigation to the western coast. 

The quantity of the ice, as well as the periods of its coming and leaving the 
coasts of Iceland, are very different. Some years a great part of the coasts are 
inclosed by it; other years it does not appear at all. Very seldom it comes 
before January or February; most frequently it comes in spring, and sometimes 
a little later. It is remarkable that the ice, even when the masses which inclose 
the coasts of Iceland are very considerable, always leaves the coasts by August 
at the latest. 

That not only the ice-drift, but also the severity of the winters of Iceland 
are very different in different years, is well known from ancient and recent 
observations. Thus the annals of Iceland state in reference to the year 1348: 
u The winter was so severe that the sea was frozen around the island; it was 
possible to ride from one neck of the land to another, and all the fiords were 
frozen up with ice. :? In the year 1G15 it is mentioned “ that the Greenland-ice 
inclosed the island in such a way that* seals (Vade Sacle, a species of the seal 
following polar ice) were caught in 1 South on the Nazes ; ? a great quantity of 
bears did likewise then come to the country, and some of them were killed on 
the south side of it; many large vessels, which were visible from the land, 
perished with crew and all.” 

Considerable ice-drifts have occurred in recent times. From notes commu¬ 
nicated to me by Mr. Thorlacius, living at Stikkelsholin, on the Bredebugt, by 
Mr. Sigurdson and by others, I find that the Greenland-ice drifted into the 
northwest fiords (between Staalbierghuk and Cape North) late in December, 
1858, and in January, 1859, and that about the same time ice appeared on the 
north and east coasts of Iceland, but left them a short while after. In February 
and March it returned, and inclosed the shore from Staalbierghuk to Cape 
North, also the whole north coast, even to the eastward of Langenaes, and, 
lastly, a considerable part of the east coast, whence masses of ice drove along 
to the south side of Iceland, passing Portland and Reikianas. The fiords from 
Staalbierghuk, around the whole north coast and for some distance down the 
east coast, were filled with Greenland-ice which froze into a single mass with 
the winter-ice in the fiords, and in consequence the ice did not break up in the 
northwest fiords before May; in the bay of Skagestrand not before June. 

Still it seems that there was even more ice in 1807. The annals of this year 
mention, in addition to nearly the same facts as those observed in 1859, that 
u from the most elevated mountains on the north and east coasts no open water 
was visible; that the inhabitants from Grimsoe, which lies more than twenty nau¬ 
tical miles from the north coast of Iceland, went in spring over the Greenland-ice 
to the trading place Ofiord, and that several pieces of that ice were carried from 


Note. 

30 . 

(Con’d.) 


260 


Note. 

so. the east coast round the south coast, and were seen in Faxebugt and Bredebugt; 

(Con’d,) a s tate of things which nobody could remember to have seen before.” 

As ice-drifts along the south coast are unusual, I take the liberty to men¬ 
tion some other cases, the more readily as they confirm what I have already 
said on the. setting of the current along this part of the coast of Iceland. 

Mr. Abel, who was “ Sysselmand” (functionary) in Westmanoe from 1821 to 
1851, writes to me as follows: u On the 26th of May, 1826, with calm and clear 
weather, a great quantity of ice was discovered from Westmanoe driving with a 
speed of three or four miles an hour from Portland along the coast to westward. 
When it came near to Elleroe and Biarneroe, two little islands between 
Westmanoe and the south coast of Iceland, several of the icebergs grounded to 
the east and southeast of them, and some larger icebergs grounded to the south¬ 
ward of Biarneroe in sixty fathoms water. The mass of ice entirely covered the 
sound between Westmanoe and Iceland, being about eight nautical miles in 
width, while it was not possible to discover how far that part of the ice stretched 
which passed to southward around Westmanoe. The passage of this ice-drift 
’ from beginning to end lasted between four and five hours. During a continu¬ 
ance of calm and clear weather and a perfectly smooth sea some majestic icebergs 
which had grounded remained in their places ; now and then they changed their 
form, when considerable pieces broke loose and plunged in the sea. At last, on 
the 8th or 9th of June, a high swell carried off these remaining icebergs in the 
same westerly direction as the former ice.” 

Mr. Abel mentions that the oldest inhabitants had never seen such an ice- 
drift from Westmanoe, and that none had subsequently appeared, excepting a 
* few fragments of Greenland-ice in one year, (the exact date is not mentioned, 

■ but between 1830 and 1810,) and also in the year 1840. He further remarks 
that during his thirty years’ residence on Westmanoe he never had found it so 
cold as during the ice-drift of 1826. The window panes in his sitting-room were 
entirely frozen, and it was not possible to thaw them by heat from the.stove. 

Undoubtedly the year alluded to by Mr. Abel as between 1830 and 1840 
must have been 1834; for the present Bishop Thordersen, at Beikiavik, whom I 
visited at Odde very many years ago, where he was then the minister, writes to 
me: “During my residence at Odde, from 1825 to 1836, I saw twice from my 
house the Greenland-ice drive between Westmanoe and the continent with con¬ 
siderable rapidity to westward. It was an imposing view. When the ice was 
first seen by the naked eye it had the appearance of large vessels; but with the 
telescope I soon discovered it to be icebergs # accompanied by great masses of 
field-ice. I can only recollect the date of one of these two years with certainty; 
it was 1834; the other year 1 have forgotten; but I recollect that, when travel¬ 
ing to Beikiavik in the autumn of the year I do not remember, (1826!) I saw at 
Orebak one of these icebergs which accidentally had stranded there, and which 
had, as well as I can remember, a height of at least 8 feet above the surface of 
the sea, even after the heat of summer.” 

In 1859 an ice-drift again passed Westmanoe. Some ice grounded at the 
entrance of the harbor and entirely blocked it for several days. . This event 
must be considered a very rare one. 

It is not improbable that the very considerable ice-drift of 1826, which, cal¬ 
culating from the data given above, must have covered an area of at least two 
hundred square miles, may have been accompanied by polar bears as well as by 


261 


Note. 

seals. These animals, as is well known, are found very frequently on polar ice, 30. 
and are carried away with it on its drift to the southward, and therefore it would (Con’d.) 
not have been impossible that some of these animals, as in 1(315, might have 
been killed “on the southern headlands of Iceland.’ 7 

The reports of the year 1807, that some Hakes of Greenland-ice had been 
seen in the Faxebugt and Bredebugt, having come from the east coast round 
the south side of the island, can perhaps be explained thus: that the ice, after 
having passed Reikianas, and followed the run of the current in a northwesterly 
direction, was conveyed to the Faxebugt and Bredebugt by continual gales 
from the west. 

This ice is a great rarity in the Faxebugt, but when it is known that stormy 
weather has influence on the usual direction of currents, and that about one- 
ninth of the driving ice is above the surface of the sea, and exposed to the imme¬ 
diate action of the wind, it may well happen'that pieces of ice should appear 
where no such ice had previously been seen in the memory of men. 

Besides repeated stays of long duration at several places on the south coast 
of Faxebugt, I have traveled 011 the south side of Bredebugt and the north side 
of Faxebugt, by proceeding from Stikkelsholm, traveling to Gronne Fiord and 
Olufsvig, and going around the Snefelsjokul to Stappen, Budenstad, Mikla- 
holt, &c. Everywhere I interested myself in obtaining a knowledge of the drift 
of the Greenland-ice, and asked frequently if it was ever seen from any of these 
places, but always received an answer in the negative. However, Mr. Olausen, 
who resided at Olufsvig during many years, communicated to me that, in 1830 
or 1831, he had heard from an old man, who at that time lived at Olufsvig, that * 
he could remember once, when a child, to have seen an iceberg stranded in the 
Bredebugt north of Gronne Fiord. This iceberg lay grounded for some time; it 
came nearer the coast during a spring-tide in May and disappeared after the 
first spring-tide in June. According to the age of the informant it is not improb¬ 
able that this happened in 1777, the year when so many whalers were lost in the 
enormous masses of ice which were driven southwest, between Iceland and 
Greenland. 

I have taken the liberty of speaking minutely about the rare occurrence of 
ice on the west coast of Iceland, because a renowned English author had men¬ 
tioned that intelligence had come to his notice that all the bays and creeks of 
Iceland, in 181(3 as well as in 1817, were filled with Greenland-ice. According to 
the accounts given by me above this cannot have been the case, at least so far as 
the Faxebugt and Bredebugt are concerned. 

In recent times there are proofs that polar bears have come with the Green¬ 
land ice to the northwest and north coasts of Iceland, where this ice is so fre¬ 
quent. In a letter from Mr. Thordersen I see that such a polar bear was shot in 
Strande-Syssel a few years ago. There are traditions in Iceland that these 
bears now and then have killed cattle, and done other mischief; but usually 
they, like the bear killed in Strande-Syssel, have been of a peaceable nature, 
and it is a common saying in Iceland that the bears constantly watch the oppor¬ 
tunity to get off with the ice; as soon as it leaves the coast tliey swim out to 
reach it. 

According to information I have received, Iceland has been visited by the 
Greenland-ice thirty-three times between the years 1800 and I860 inclusive. On 
every occasion it came to the north coast, which was beset by it, and on nearly 


262 


Note. 

30 . every occasion, during these thirty-three years, the coast between Cape North and 

(Con’d.) the bay of Skagestrand was beset by it. Thirteen times it inclosed the whole of 
the north coast to Langenaes, and even farther to the eastward; fourteen times 
it lay outside the northwest fiords between Staalbiergliuk and Cape North, and 
blocked them up, (either all or a few of them;) thirteen times ice has appeared 
on the east coast in various quantities; and in five different years ice has been 
driven from the east coast to the westward, along the south side of Iceland. 

While traveling in North Iceland, I saw the Greenland-ice from the mount¬ 
ains near Vellir for the first time on the 27th of July, 1834. I remember it was 
extremely clear on that day, and the sun felt very warm when riding on the 
paths between the mountains of the Northland. When I first came in sight of 
the Icy Sea, being unaware of the neighborhood of enormous masses of ice, my 
surprise was so great that I called to my fellow-travelers who were behind me, 
“What a storm on the Icy Sea!” But what I had presumed to be the foam ot 
the waves and breakers, I soon discovered to be a quantity of the Greenland-ice, 
by which the whole of the north coast and a considerable part of the east coast 
were inclosed in that year. 

On my return to Beikiavik I inquired if any of the newly-arrived vessels 
had fallen in with ice, and from many seafarers at Beikiavik, Havne Fiord, and 
Kieblevik 1 obtained the answer that neither this year, nor at any time formerly, 
had they ever fallen in with ice on their voyages to or from those ports. I hap¬ 
pened to be in Iceland both in 1826 and 1834, which were two of the five recorded 
years in which Greenland-ice was driven along the south coast, and notwith¬ 
standing that both of these years I spent the greatest part of the summer on the 
south land of the island, I never heard mention that any seafaring man had 
fallen in with Greenland-ice on the voyages between Europe and this part of 
Iceland, which sufficiently proves that ice-drifts, going along the south coast of 
Iceland, are such insignificant objects in the great ocean that they do not impede 
navigation in any way. 

I have already mentioned that experience teaches that the Greenland-ice, 
even when it incloses the north and east coasts of Iceland in great masses, 
always leaves the coasts again in the course of August, if not earlier. I will now 
inquire into the reason of this, or at least give some hints which may throw 
light upon the phenomenon. 

1. A partial cause may perhaps be found in the melting of ice and snow on 
the enormous jokuls and snow-covered mountains in the interior of this great 
island. When traveling in Iceland in the warm season, in which the -sun is 
nearly always above the horizon, it does not escape the traveler’s attention that 
the amount of melted ice and snow is very considerable, and I will try to give a 
proof of it. At the end of July, 1834, between Holuin and Ofiord, I passed Heli- 
ardalsheden, which, at the most elevated part of the road, is about 2,000 feet 
above the level of the sea. From a little glacier here, the Svarfaraa has its 
source. On following the course of this stream, a great many rivulets, which 
all had their origin in the melted ice and snow, fell into the Svarfaraa; and in 
the valley, eight or ten miles from its source, this stream, which does not at all 
belong to the great water-courses of Iceland, had grown to an extremely rapid river. 
By considering how small is the area from which the Svarfaraa has its nourish¬ 
ment, we may estimate the very considerable quantity of water which is carried 
out into the sea, from the whole interior of Iceland, by many other rapid and 


263 


• 1 • OIC# 

greater rivers, and it will not tlien appear improbable that the melting of the 30 . 
snow, which undoubtedly is greatest in July and August, and the consequent (Con’d.) 
incieased flow of the rivers, might contribute to remove the sea-ice farther from 
the coast. But if the ice from the east coast drifts out to sea within range of 
the principal current, which runs at a certain distance from shore, it will find its 
way to the Icy Sea again; for, as I have already mentioned, the principal cur¬ 
rent between Iceland and Norway is northeasterly, toward the Icy Sea. Again, 
if the ice which incloses the northern coast of Iceland be drifted out to sea, 
within range of the great current opposite, it will be carried away between Ice¬ 
land and Greenland, and farther. 

2. It is well known, and confirmed by the excellent charts on storms in the 
Atlantic by Captain Maury, that June, July, and August are the months in 
which the Northern Atlantic is least exposed to stormy weather; and, as the 
prevailing gales in this part of the Atlantic are from the west, it is not improb¬ 
able that the current coming from the south, and running between Iceland and 
Norway during the other months, in which the most blowy weather takes place, 
should, in the calm summer season, run somewhat more westerly and nearer to 
the eastern coast of Iceland. If so, it would contribute to remove the ice from 
its shores. 

3. It is also well known that the limits of the Gulf Stream are very change¬ 
able in the different seasons. Thus, in the meridian of Cape Kace, its northern 
limit in winter is in about north latitude 40° or 41°; while in September, when 
the Gulf Stream is most heated, it reaches 45° or 46°. (Maury’s Sailing Direc¬ 
tions, vol. i, p. 99; July, 1858.) It is highly probable that this current changes 
its position within defined but wide limits; or, as Maury strikingly remarks, the 
Gulf Stream “may be supposed to waver about in the ocean, not unlike a pen¬ 
non in the breeze.” These variations of its course may extend to the latitude of 
Iceland, or even still farther north; and perhaps a branch of this stream, in the 
summer season, may swing somewhat nearer to the east coast of Iceland, and; 
turning along its north coast, may thus contribute to the ice leaving its 
shores. On examining the temperature of the surface of the sea on the east and 
north coasts of Iceland, it appears undoubtedly that the eddy of the Arctic cur¬ 
rent, along the north coast of Iceland, does not exist in July and August; it is, 
therefore, probable that that eddy which, during the greater part of the year, 
runs toward east, is displaced, in the course of the summer, by the current com¬ 
ing from more southerly latitudes. It is likewise remarkable that the tempera¬ 
ture of the sea on the east coast of Iceland is not as high as it appears to be 
along the north coast; and the supposition is reasonable that the warmer cur¬ 
rent, on bending in a westerly direction, passes Langenaes along the north coast, 
without touching the shores of East Iceland. It is well known that the surface 
of the sea, even in high latitudes, can maintain a high temperature. Parry 
found 39° F. on his voyage, in summer, from Faroe to Spitzbergen, even in lati¬ 
tude 73° N., arid longitude 8° E., and I shall corroborate this observation by a 
fact observed last year. 

The schooner Fox, Captain Sodring, left Copenhagen in February, bound 
to the Icy Sea, An extract from her log-book gives the following: 


264 


Note. 

30 . 

(Con’d. 


Off Lindesnaes in Norway. 


Date. 

Position. 

Temperature, 

Fahrenheit. 

Remarks. 

Latitude N. 

<u 

tJ 

3 

"be 

a 

0 

Air. 

Surface of 

sea. 

i860. 

0 / 

0 / 

O 

O 


February 28..., 



36.5 

3 7.7 


February 29. 

58 32 

4 22 E. 

38.8 

38.8 


March 1. 

59 4° 

3 4° E. 

37-o 

41.0 


March 3. 

61 56 

0 08 E. 

41.0 

45-5 


March 4. 

63 57 

2 15 W. 

39-9 

39-9 


March 5 . 

64 40 

2 59 W. 

34-2 

38.1 


March 6. 

65 i5 

1 35W. 

38.1 

38.8 


March 7. 

66 21 

1 26 w. 

34-2 

41.1 


March 8. 

68 31 

4 15 W. 

33* 1 

34-2 


March 9. 

7° 3° 

7 47 W. 

32.0 

3°-9 | 


March 10. 



11.7 

30.9 r 

Between ice in sight of Jan-Mayen. 


By this it will be seen that the sea, on its surface, near the Polar Circle, 
even in the beginning of March, and notwithstanding the effects of a long and 
cold winter, still retained a heat of 41° F.; therefore it is not improbable that a 
branch of the warmer current is connected with the above-mentioned high sum¬ 
mer-temperatures of the north coast of Iceland, and that it possibly displaces 
the eddy of the cold Arctic current, and helps to remove the Greenland-ice from 
the coast of Iceland in July and August. 

I beg to call attention to this point; further observations will show if my 
supposition be right or not. 

The thermometers used on the voyages to North and East Iceland for deter¬ 
mining the temperatures of the surface of the sea, as well as the thermometer 
used by the Fox, w r ere all verified and delivered by me. The observations will 
be found noted dow T n in the log-books of the different vessels; and the captains 
being intelligent men, who all took an interest in their work, I do not doubt the 
veracity of their observations. 

To prove the influence which the warmer currents have on the climate of 
Reikiavik, (though its harbor is sometimes frozen in severe winters,) in opposi¬ 
tion to the climate of Ofiord, situated on the north coast of Iceland and exposed 
to cold currents from the Icy Sea the greatest part of the year, I add the follow¬ 
ing tables of temperature of the air: 

Reikiavik , 64° og' N. (Observations Meteorological in Islandia. Thomsteinson , Hafnia , 1839.) 


Winter. 

Spring. 

Summer. 

Autumn. 

Mean for the 
year. 

0 

O 

O 

O 

O 

29.1 

37 -o 

53-5 

37-9 

39-4 

Ofiord, latitude 65 

0 40' N., (Kaemtz, 1832, vol 11, p. 88.) 

23.2 

28.2 

49.8 

34.5 

32.3 








































265 


Difference in latitude, 1° 3D. 

Difference in annual mean temperature, 7° F. 

As a proof of what kind of weather may be met with on the north coast of 
Iceland, even in summer, I give an extract of ScheePs meteorological observa¬ 
tions, which are to be found in his second volume. 

Station: A dwelling-house at the innermost part of the Tharalaturs Fiord , between Cape North and 

Geirolfsgn up : 


Date. 

• 

Temperature, Fahrenheit. 

Morning. 

Noon. 

Evening. 

1809. 

August 1, gale from northeast. 

O 

An 7 

O 

0 

August 2, gale from northeast. 

T/ * / 

3 9 T 

34 * 2 

3 ° *9 
# 32.0 

August 3, increasing gale. 

dj • A 

*30 n 

33 * 1 

August 4, moderating gale. 

OO . T 

32.0 

33 *° 

33.8 


JJ • x 

32.0 


The memoir closes with yie table of observations by Dr. Thorsteinson on 
the surface of the sea at Reikiavik, which is given on page 13 of this volume. 

31 In Mohu’s memoir, Temperature de la Mer entre Plslande, Pficosse et la 
Norvege, (Christiania, B. M. Bentzen,) =55°.4. 


32 The very extensive and important operations of this institute require 
annually only the sum of 7,770 francs, which is paid by the Norwegian exchequer. 
(Report of the Institute, September, 1867, with a chart.) 

33 Communications in manuscript, dated Christiania, September 30 and 
November 15, 1860. 

[Professor Mohn had sent, as appears, in the beginning- of 1869, a table of observations to 
the director of the North German “ Seewarte,” Dr. von Freeden, who made use of it in an inves¬ 
tigation of the diurnal fluctuation in the temperature of the sea in those high regions. The sub¬ 
joined is an abstract of that table, with remarks of Dr. von Freeden. (Geograpliische Mitthei- 
lungen, 1869, p. 208, foot-note.) The values for the monthly mean temperatures which Dr. von 
Freeden employs have slightly changed by the subsequent observations, (in 1869,) as will be 
seen when comparing them with the values recorded by Dr. Petermann.— Hydrographic Office.] 

I am under obligation to Professor Mohn for a table of daily observations of 
the temperature of the sea at the meteorological stations of the coast of Norway. 
From them I find the following monthly means: 


Months. 

Helliso. 

Ona. 

Villa. 

Andenes. 

Fruholm. 










8 a. m. 

2 p. m. 

8 a. m. 

8 a. m. 

2 p. m. 

8 a. m. 

2 p. m. 

8 p. m. 


0 

O 

O 

O 

0 

O 

O 

O 

July. 

53-04 

53-73 

54 - 3 ° 

55-71 

50.27 

45-28 

45-30 

45-73 

August. 

60.17 

60.91 

57.40 

58.08 

53-33 

48.24 

48.51 

48.18 

September 

56.39 

C7.06 

54-45 

51.66 

47.48 


47 . I4 



0/ • 





Means. 

56.53 

57.23 

55.38 

55-15 

50.36 

46.76 

46.98 

46.95 


Notes. 

30-33. 


3J. 


32. 


33. 


34 













































266 


Note. 

33 . While at Helliso, in latitude 01° N., the mean fluctuation of the temperature 

(Con’d.) between 8 a. m. and 2 p. m. amounts still to 0°.7, the temperature means at Fra¬ 
il olm, in latitude 71° N., are respectively 4G°.7G, 4G°.98, and 46°.95, differing far 
less than the probable error of observations ou board. The daily amplitude on 
the high sea, moreover, is always smaller than near the coast, on account of the 
more ready compensation. 

In regard to the epoch within which the increasing temperature of July will 
compensate the decreasing of September, we find the temperature of the sea, at 
Ihe coast, to reach its mean value of— 

56°.5 at 8 a. in., at Helliso, about the 30th of August; 

57°.2 at 2 p. m., at Helliso, about the 30th of August; 

55°.4 at 8 a. m., at Ona, about the 17tli of August; 

55°.2 at 8 a. m., at Villa, about the 4th of August; 

50°.4 at 2 p. in., at Andenes, about the 1st of August; 

47°.0 at 2 p. m., at Fruholm, about the 31st of August; 

from which there could be deduced, in latitude G5° 40' N., longitude 12° 25' E. 
of Greenwich, for the middle of August, a mean temperature of 53°.2. 

From the mean values of the temperatures of the same hours of each day 
observed on the high sea by the first German North Polar expedition, however, 
a mean temperature will be found— 

at 0 hours of 3G°.12; 
at 4 hours of 3G°.28; 
at 8 hours of 35°.98; 
at 12 hours of 35°.98; 
at 1G hours of 36°.1G; 
at 20 hours of 36° 16; 

which shows conclusively how very small the mean daily amplitude is. 

The respective means for June (in the ice near the Greenland coast) were 
30°.58, 30°.G7, 30°.5G, 30°.34, 30°.43, and 30°.34, figures still more satisfactory. 

During the last days of May, when northward bound in a sea free of ice, 
the means for the respective hours of observation were 42°.42*42°.33, 41°.92 
41°.45, 420.35, and 41°.34, nearly coinciding in their fluctuation with the tem¬ 
peratures of the air, '(43°. 77, 43°.05, 42°.49, 40°.95, 40°.80, and 410.33,) and indi¬ 
cating already the effects of the insolation in the more southern latitudes. 

Finally, as the mean temperature of the sea north of the Arctic Circle, from 
the 1st of July to the 15th of August, was found to be 35°.4, and the same from 
the latter date to the 25th of September, when the ship recrossed the Arctic 
Circle, it will be safe to assume the middle of August as the mean epoch, to 
which the isothermal curves deduced from all the observations of the first Ger- 
mau North Polar expedition will apply. 

The temperature of the sea, however, varies considerably in the various 
years. Professor Mohn, for instance, found, in July, 1867, at the North Cape a 
temperature of the sea of 39°.2, which rose until September to 44°.G, when at 
Fruholm, in July, 18G8, it was from 48° to 50°, but in September only 46° to 48°. 
It is not improbable that the frequent rain and warm autumn of 1867, and in 
18G8 the exceedingly warm summer of the middle latitudes, which extended to 


267 


Notes. 

America and tempered tbe waters of tlie Gulf Stream quite early, were the 34-45* 
cause of the above two higher temperatures. 


34 Temperature de la Mer' entre Plslaude, l’Eeosse et la Norvege, avec 0 34 . 

cartes, par H. Mohn, Directeur de l’lnstitute Meteorologique de Norvege 1G pp.> 
Christiania, B. M. Bentzen, 1870. (The five charts show the temperatures of 

the surface of the sea between Norway, Scotland and Iceland in the four sea¬ 
sons, (winter, spring, summer, and autumn,) and for the entire year, from season 
and annual means, by isothermal lines for every degree Celsius, but they are 
only rough sketches. Stykkisholmr, for instance, lies not, as shown by Mohn, 
on the north coast of Iceland, but on the western coast, in Breithi Fiord or 
Broad Bay.) 

Oversigt over Norges Klimatologi of H. Mohn, Professor, Kristiania, Trykt 
hos Carl C. Werner et Co., 1870. (Very valuable review of the Norwegian 
meteorological observations and labors up to 1870, containing air temperature, 
sea temperature, moisture of air, pressure of air, winds, rain, snow, &c., with 
many tables.) 

35 Oversigt over Norges Klimatologi of H. Mohn, page 20. 35. 

30 u Zeitsclirift fur Allgem. Erdkunde, Neue Folgeiv,” pp. 50 and 503. 3«. 

37 “ Meyer and Mobius, Fauna der Kieler Bucht, Leipzig, 1805,” p. iv et seq. 37 . 

ss u Zeitsclirift fur Allgem. Erdkunde,” N. F. vi, p. 11. 

39 Letter of Mr. W. von Freeden, director of the North German “Seewarte,” 39. 
dated Hamburg, October 2G, 1869. 

40 Manuscript of I )r. E. Loftier, Copenhagen, November 10, 1809, and March 10 . 
18, 1870. 

41 Manuscript communication of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company, 4i. 
dated Liverpool, November 26,1809. 

42 Manuscript of the same, dated Glasgow, December 3, 1809. 42. 

43 Unclear in the manuscript, whether 43° or 50°. 43 * 


44 Inglefield. A Summer Search for Sir John Franklin, with a peep into 44. 
the Polar Basin, 1852. London, 1853, p. 198. 

« «z e itschrift fur Erdkunde,” vol. i, 1833, i>. 488; vol. iii, 1854, pp. 43 and 43 . 
1.69 et seq.; vol. xi, 1861, pp. 191 and 299 et seq. 


268 


Xotes 

46-54. 

47. 

48. 

49. 


50. 

51. 

5‘i, 

53. 

54. 


4y Letter of Rear-Admiral 0. Irmiuger, dated Copenhagen, February 4,1870. 


47 “Zeitschrift ftir Erdkunde,” vol. iii, 1854, table 4; vol. xi, 1801, table 2. 


48 Letter of Rear-Admiral Irmiuger, February 4, 1870. 


i(J We know from the British expedition of Palliser, further from the twenty- 
seven Norwegian ships, and principally from Johannesen and Carl sen, that in 
the summer of 1869 there lias been very little ice in the eastern part of the 
European Arctic Ocean, near Nova Zembla, and in the Kara Sea; and from Admi¬ 
ral Irminger’s communications it appears that very little, hardly any, was found 
in the southwestern part of the sea between Iceland and Greenland. It is 
therefore probable that an uncommon amount of ice remained north of Iceland, 
and that it would have been well to retain my original plan for the second Polar 
expedition, viz, to send one of the vessels to East Greenland, and the other east 
to Nova Zembla. 

50 Letter of Dr. G. C. Wallich, dated London, November 25, 1809. 


51 Lord Dufferin’s letters from high latitudes, being some account of a voy¬ 
age in the schooner-yacht Foam. London, 1857. 


52 Pages ,413 to 424 of the same. Lord Dufferiu shows the differences 
between the temperature of the air and that of the sea graphically by a profile. 

• 

53 Compare Yon Freeden’s discourse on the scientific results of the first Ger¬ 
man North Polar expedition, paper No. ii of this volume, pp. 117 et seq ., and 
note 200. 

54 Manuscript letter of Dr. Dorst, dated Jiilich, October 20,1809. Dr. Dorst 
remarks: “The probable error in the observations, I think, is not over 0°.2 F. 
The temperature of the air is very low, (33°.04,) and I consider Dove’s isothermal 
curve of 2° R. (36°.5 F.) in this region too high north by about ten degrees of 
latitude, at least for the year 1809. The temperature appears to culminate 
from the 19th to the 24tli of July, and then to fall slowly. The absolute fluctu¬ 
ation in the mouth is only 9°.2 F., from the minimum 28° to the maximum of 
37°.2, while the daily oscillation rarely exceeds 2°.25 F.; in the mean it is only 
10.33. 

“ These very small fluctuations probably are caused by the melting ice, and 
are therefore interesting. 

“The temperature of the sea, also, is very low (320.73) and constant, and 
appears to culminate from the 20th to the 30th of the month, with 34°.21 and 
34°.09. The maximum was 35°.0, the minimum 30°.G5; the fluctuation, there, 
fore, amounted to 4°.95. The daily fluctuation was found to be, in the mean, 
00.47. The temperature appears to be highest toward evening. 


269 


“The small monthly and daily fluctuations in the temperature of the sea, as 
well as of the air, prove that we were constantly between melting ice. For that 
reason the differences between the temperature of the sea and that of the air 
could not be great, but they would have become more distinct if we had with¬ 
drawn from the influence of the melting ice.” 

How small the difference between the temperature of the sea and that of the 
air is in that region is also shown by Koldewey’s observations in 1868. I com¬ 
pute the monthly mean as follows: 


May. 

June. 

July. 

! August. 

j September. 

1 

Temperature of the sea. 

30.6 

35-5 

34-2 

37-7 


-t ‘ • / 

Temperature of the air. 

A'? T 

32-3 

36.1 

33-7 

36.0 


. . 4^ . 1 

Excess of the latter. 

. . + 0.4 

+ ?-7 

+ 0.6 

- 0.5 

- i -7 


[For an account of Dr. Dorst’s expedition, see note No. 125 .—Hydrographic Office.] 
55 “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1870, number 1, table 8. 


56 Manuscript of Dr. 0. F. Frisch, dated Stockholm, February 19, 1870: 
u Meteorological observations of Captain Baron F. W. von Otter and of Lieuten¬ 
ant L. Palander, during the Swedish Polar expedition, in 1868.” Placed before 
the Iioyal Academy of Science, in Stockholm, October 13, 1869, by Professor A. 
E. ISTordenskiold. 

[The following is a brief account of this expedition, read before the Royal Geographical 
Society. (Proceedings, vol. xiii, p. 151 etseq.) The results of the expedition, as far’as the cur¬ 
rents and especially the Gulf Stream are regarded, are discussed in note 115.— Hydrographic 
Office.] 

Account of the Swedish North Polar Expedition of 1868, under the command of A. 

E. Nordenskiold and Er. W. von Otter. — Extracts. 

The study of the natural history of the Polar regions has been of late years 
prosecuted in Sweden with so much interest that, exclusive of the present years 
undertaking, no less than three* separate expeditions have been sent out from 

* These were the following: 

The Expedition of 1858, fitted out at the expense of Otto Torell. The following gentlemen 
took part in the undertaking: O. Torell, A. E. Nordenskiold, A. Qvenuerstedt. The expedition 
visited the western coast of Spitsbergen, and brought home considerable zoological and geolo¬ 
gical collections. 

The Expedition of 1851, tilted out at the public expense. The gentlemen who took part in 
the expedition, besides the proposer and chief, O. Torell, were A. von Goes, A. T. Malmgren, F. 
A. Smitt, G. von Ylilen, zoologists and botanists; B. Lilliehook, and W. Ivuglenstjerna, com¬ 
manders of the vessels; C. W. Blomstrand, C. Cbydenius, N. Duner, and A. E. Nordenskiold for 
geological and physical investigations. The expedition visited, in both vessels, the western and 
northern coasts of Spitzbergen, made extensive journeys in boats for the imrpose of constructing 
a topographical and geological map of the group of islands, and of examining the northern part 
of the triangulation for degree-measuring, which the present president of the Royal Society, Gen¬ 
eral E. Sabine, as early as 1826, proposed to get executed in these high northern regions; and 
lastly brought home with them a collection of materials for studying the fauna, flora, and geol¬ 
ogy of the islands, probably not surpassed in completeness by any similar collections from dis¬ 
tricts situated at so great a distance from the centers of civilization. 

The Expedition of 1864, fitted out at the public expense, chiefly for the purpose of continuing 
the survey for the measurement of the degree. The gentlemen who took part in the undertaking 
were A. E. Nordenskiold, chief, N. Duner, and A. J. Malmgren. The expedition visited the 
southern part of Spitzbergen and Storfiord, completed the survey for the degree-measuring, and 
brought home rich geological, zoological, and botanical collections. 


\otes. 

54-56. 


53. 

56. 

























270 


Note. 

-><>. this country to the Arctic seas. When Nordenskibld, last winter, again brought 

(Con’d.) forward a proposal for a new expedition, on a different plan, which was to set 
out in the autumn from the northern coast of Spitzbergen and penetrate further 
northward, the means requisite to defray the expenses of the expedition were, in 
a few days, raised in the second city of Sweden, Gbteborg, (Gottenburg,) at the 
instance of the resident governor, Count Ehrensvard. When, moreover, the 
Government, in order to assist the undertaking, fitted out and manned the steam¬ 
ship Sofia, well adapted for the purpose, strongly built of Swedish iron, and 
originally intended to carry the mails over the Baltic in winter, the new expedi¬ 
tion was enabled to assume a more extensive character and embrace a wider 
compass than had originally been intended. 

Most expeditions of this kind have had for their object to attain as high a 
degree of north latitude as possible; but a glance at their history will convince 
us how difficult and uncertain the attainment of this object is, and how fre¬ 
quently an insignificant circumstance has obliged the, in other respects, best- 
planned expeditions to return without any scientific result whatever—a contin¬ 
gency which there would have been no reason to apprehend if proper care had 
been taken in the scientific furnishing and manning of the expedition. In order 
to remove all fear of the new Swedish expedition having a result of this kind, it 
was determined that in this, as in the preceding Swedish Arctic expeditions, a 
continuation, as general as possible, should be made of the researches in natural 
history commenced by their predecessors. For this purpose the expedition was, 
by the Royal Academy of Science in Stockholm, provided with a carefully 
selected and appropriate scientific apparatus, and was accompanied by as numer¬ 
ous a body of professional scientific men as room and circumstances permitted. 

The plan of the journey was, during the summer and early part of the 
autumn, to pay a visit in the Sofia to Beeren Island and Spitzbergen, and care- 
full}' examine both the marine and terrestrial fauna of both lands; their flora, 
both phanerogamous and cryptogamous, as also their geography and geology. It 
was also intended to make deep soundings, and to take meteorological and mag- 
netical observations, &c. A supply of coal was to have been deposited by a 
ship, hired for that especial purpose, at some fitting spot on the northwest corner 
of Spitzbergen, which is accessible till late in the season; which tract the Sofia 
was accordingly to visit during the course of the autumn, and whence some of 
the scientific men were, in the beginning or middle of September, to return in 
one of the colliers to Norway. The rest \vere to endeavor, in the Sofia, to make 
their way further north, and, if necessary, to pass the winter (circumstances 
permitting) in some appropriate harbor of the Seven Isles, which form the Old 
World’s most northern archipelago. 

The gentlemen who took part in the expedition were: Geologist, A. E. Nor¬ 
denskibld; Captain, Fr. W. v. Otter, Royal Swedish navy; Lieutenant, A. L. 
Palander, Royal Swedish navy; Physician, C. Nystrom; Natural Philosopher, S. 
Lemstrom; Zoologists, A. E. Holmgren, A. J. Malmgren, F. A. Smitt; Botanists, 
Sv. Berggren, Th. M. Fries; Geologist, G. Naucklioff. 

The vessel was manned by fourteen seamen, together with zoological con¬ 
servator Svensson, and six dredgers, hired in Norway. The ship placed at the 
disposal of the expedition having been, under the inspection of Captain von 
Otter, duly fitted out in Carlscrona, and furnished with provisions for something- 
more than a year, or, when account is duly made of the game that in these parts 


271 


Note 

one may always reckon upon, for about a year and a half, and touched at Gdte- 56 . 
borg to take on board the scientific apparatus and the men of science who took ( Cond > 
part in the undertaking, anchor was weighed on the 7th of July. On the 16th 
Tromsoe was visited, where they remained until the 20th, for the purpose of 
taking in coal, &c. 

On the 22d the Sofia cast anchor in the southern harbor of Beeren Island, 
where some members of the expedition landed to study the natural phenomena 
of a place difficult of access on account of the want of a good harbor; while the 
remainder continued on board the vessel, which cruised in the neighborhood, 
and occupied themselves with soundings and with an examination of the local 
marine fauna. 

The expedition left Beeren Island on the 27tli of July. Our course was 
directed to the eastern coast of Spitsbergen, which had not been visited by 
any of the previous Swedish expeditions; but at South Cape we met with 
ice, which, as we approached the Thousand Isles, became more and more abun¬ 
dant, and we were obliged to turn back. After some hesitation as to whether we 
should wait at South Cape till the water became more free from ice, in order to 
proceed further eastward, or at once begin the scientific operations on the 
west coast of Spitsbergen that entered into the ftlau of the voyage, we embraced 
the latter alternative; and it was very fortunate that we did so, for on our return 
home we learned that the east coast, during the whole summer of 1868, had been 
rendered completely inaccessible by the ice. 

Our course was now directed to Ice Fiord, where the Sofia cast anchor on 
the morning of the 31st of July. We continued a fortnight in the different har¬ 
bors of that extensive fiord, and penetrated, in our boat excursions, to the inner¬ 
most parts of the fiord’s northern arm, which had not previously been visited by 
the Swedish expeditions. During this time all the members of the expedition 
were busily occupied in scientific researches and in collecting objects of natural 
history. The change was, indeed, advantageous, as well for our zoological and 
botanical as especially for our geological investigations. 

The previous Swedish expeditions had pretty fully explored the principal 
features of the geology of Ice Fiord, and had found it, in consequence of the 
varying strata on its shores, full of different types both ot animal and vegetable 
remains, and unusually rich in materials illustrative of the geological history of 
the extreme north. 

Innermost in the fiord are found immense, probably Devonian, beds ot red 
clay-slate and sandstone, which, however, do not here contain petrifactions. On 
them lie strata of limestone, gypsum, and Hint, filled with large, coarse-scaled, 
mountain-limestone brachiopoda; then come Trias-beds, with large nautilus forms 
and remains of saurians; after these, Jura strata, with ammonites; then Tertiary 
strata, in many places rich in plant-impressions, indicating a former temperate 
climate; and lastly, scanty remains of Post-tertiary strata, with plant-fragments 
and sub-fossil marine shells, some of which now first occur in living condition in the 
northern parts of Norway. The preceding Swedish expeditions had brought home 
specimens from all these strata; not, however, sufficiently numerous to give a 
• geological representation of the place’s former history so complete as the import¬ 
ance of the subject requires. To supply this defect was one of the chief objects 
of the expedition of 1868; and we succeeded in bringing home unusually rich 
collections, especially of plant impressions and trias petrifactions, which, when 


272 


Xote. 

*56. duly studied, will, no doubt, throw much light on the condition of the climate 

(Con’d.) ai id arrangement of the land of the Arctic regions at that remote period. 

Spitzbergen, as is generally known, is at present frequently visited by Nor¬ 
wegian ships engaged in walrus and seal fishing, or in fishing for the a haak- 
joering” fScymnus microcephalus) on the banks near the island’s coast. The 
walrus is, however, now but very rarely met with on the western side of Spitz¬ 
bergen, and its fiords are therefore only occasionally visited for the purpose of 
taking in water or hunting the reindeer. On how large a scale the hunting of 
these animals may be carried, is evidenced by the circumstance that the vessels 
fitted out from Tromsoe alone, in 1868, according to official returns, killed 996 
head. From Haminerfest the returns are still greater; whence one may con¬ 
clude that, in spite of the war of extermination which, under the name of hunt¬ 
ing, has, for some time, been carried on against these animals, two or three 
thousand head are annually slaughtered. If we compare that number with the 
scanty extent of ice-free meadow land in Spitzbergeu, we are tempted to suppose 
that an immigration must take place from Nova Zembla, which, nevertheless, is 
scarcely possible, unless some large island, or group of islands, facilitate the com¬ 
munication between these two countries, situated at a distance of between 400 and 
d.00 sea miles from each other. Of late years the Norwegians have resumed the 
method, formerly employed by the Russians, of using large nets, formed of rope, 
to catch the beluga, (Delpkinopterus leucas;) and, in 1868, several vessels were 
fitted out exclusively for that species of fishing. Some of the fishermen whom we 
met had, on one or two occasions, taken from twelve to twenty head at a single 
drag of the net; right handsome sport, when one considers that the Delphinop¬ 
terus is often larger than the walrus itself. 

Ice Fiord, like most of the other gulfs of Spitzbergen, is surrounded by vast 
glaciers, with their mouths turned toward the sea, which offer to the geologist 
an opportunity of studying that important phenomenon in the history of the 
earth’s development. But also extensive valleys or declivities, free from ice and 
snow, are met with, especially in the inner parts of the fiord, and the fertile soil 
here produces a vegetation more luxuriant than in other parts of this island 
group. One may here see whole fields yellow with poppies, (Papaver medicante,) 
or covered with a thick green and red carpet of the beautiful Saxifraga oppositi- 
folia. The fiord, which lies beneath them, and in the summer-months is often 
as still and clear as a looking-glass, abounds with marine animals of various 
kinds. Everything contributes to make this a most important spot for the study 
of both animal and vegetable life in the Arctic regions. The zoologists and bot¬ 
anists of this expedition here gathered a rich harvest, among the results of which 
we may mention the taking of several fine salmon, and fully-developed examples 
of the esculent mushroom, &c. 

We left Ice Fiord on the 13th of August. At the entrance a boat party was 
sent out northward, to map and examine geologically Foreland Sound. Their 
work was now, as during the expedition of 1861, when Blomstrand and Duner 
sailed through the sound, rendered difficult by almost perpetual fog. During this 
time the vessel made a somewhat longer excursion westward, for the purpose of 
making soundings; which, however, were, on the occasion, rendered almost' 
impossible by the heavy swell. We had arranged to meet at King’s Bay, whither 
both parties came on the 17tli, in the afternoon. Several zoological, botanical, 
and geological excursions having been made from this point, and a large num- 


273 


ber of miocene fossil plants collected, the Sofia, on the 10th, proceeded on her 
course farther northward. 

We had hoped here, in some degree at least, to reinforce our already con¬ 
siderably diminished stock of coal, but we soon found that that would necessa¬ 
rily cause too great a delay. In fact, whereas, more to the south, the tertiary 
formation occupies the greater part of the extensive peninsula between Ice-Fiord 
and Bell Sound, and there, in many places, forms mountains of above a thou¬ 
sand feet high, at King’s Bay, on the contrary, its extent is very inconsiderable, 
so that, at present, it forms only a few small hills consisting of strongly-folded 
strata, and separated from each other by the furrows cut by the glacier-streams. 
By this the supplies ot coal, notwithstanding the by no means inconsiderable 
thickness of the beds and their accessibility, (they lie only a few hundred feet from 
the shore of one of the best harbors in Spitsbergen), become of but little value, 
especially as the frost, which begins at a very short distance under the surface, 
renders the breaking of them extremely difficult; in fact, in consequence of the 
ice-drenched coal’s extreme toughness, almost impossible without regular min¬ 
ing. It is even to be expected that the whole of what still remains of the mio¬ 
cene formation of this spot will, in a comparatively short period, be washed 
away. 

Late at night, on the 20th August, the Sofia anchored at Amsterdam Island, 
and the following day we had the pleasure of hailing the first of the ships which 
had been hired in Norway for the expedition for the transport of coals. A coal 
depot having been established on the low tongue of land that shoots out south¬ 
eastward from Amsterdam Island, and five of the scientific members of the expe¬ 
dition having been, together with necessary tents and boats, landed at Kobbe 
Bay, to prosecute there their zoological, botanical, and physiological researches, 
the Sofia sailed off with the rest on a sounding-tour toward Greenland. Our 
intention was to penetrate thither along the 80th degree of N. latitude, but 
before we had reached the longitude of Greenwich we were met by impassable 
masses of drift-ice. It was evident that the coast of Greenland was accessible 
only at a latitude much lower than was compatible with the plan of our voyage. 
We therefore turned our course north and northeast, and gradually, after innu¬ 
merable zigzags in the ice, arrived at 81° 16' N. latitude. The temperature had 
now sunk to G° C. (12.8 F.) with thick ice, fogs, and snow-storms. 'The ocean was 
sometimes covered with a thin coating of new ice, and the old ice northward 
was quite impassable, so that we were obliged to seek a passage out in a south¬ 
easterly direction. After another vain attempt to reach Depot Point, in Brande- 
wijne Bay, the-Sofia anchored, on the 29th, in Liebde Bay. 

During the passage of the Sofia from Norway to Spitzbergen, its officers, 
Captain Baron von Otter and Lieutenant Palander, took a number of soundings 
in the deeper parts with a u Bulldog” apparatus, of the same kind as that con¬ 
structed at Tromso, by Torell and Chydenius, for the voyage of 1861, and which 
was found to be particularly applicable. These soundings were zealously con¬ 
tinued during our cruising amid the drift-ice, between 80° and 82°, and gave very 
interesting results, not only as regards the ocean’s depth in the parts visited by 
us, but also concerning Arctic animal life at the greatest measurable depths. It 
showed us that Spitzbergen may, in a manner, be looked upon as a continuation 
of the Scandinavian peninsula, inasmuch as that island-group is not separated 
from Norway by any very deep channel, (not above 300 fathoms), whereas a 
35 


XotC 

56 

(Con’d. 


274 


Note. 

56 . little to tlie north and west of Spitzbergen there is a depth of 2,000 fathoms and 

(Con’d.) more. From these great depths specimens of clay were brought up by the Bull¬ 
dog apparatus, which, on immediate and close examination, were found to con¬ 
tain not only several microscopic but even larger and tolerably highly organized 
animal forms, ( e . g ., several kind of Crustacea and annellata). The greatest depth 
from which any specimen was procured was 2,GOO fathoms, and the mass there 
raised consisted, for the greater part, of white and red Foraminifera , in general 
scarcely so large as a pin’s head. It is, moreover, deserving of remark that, 
during our cruisings amid the ice, we met with and collected not only a number 
of pieces of drifting wood, but also (as, for example, at 80° 40' E.) glass balls of 
the kind used by the Norsemen at their Loffoden fisheries for floats; an addi¬ 
tional proof of the already well-established fact* that the Gulf Stream reaches, 
though in a greatly weakened state, even these tracts. 

Liebde Bay had never before been visited by any scientific expedition, and 
its topography and geology were accordingly entirely unknown. A boat-party, 
consisting of Malmgren, Nordenskiold, and Nystrom, with three men, were there¬ 
fore left here, while the ship went to fetch their comrades who had been left at 
Kobbe Bay. The boat’s journey was favored by calm and mild weather and a 
clear sky, although a high wind, accompanied by snow storms, prevailed out at 
sea—a circumstance very common at Spitzbergen, and which is said especially 
to characterize that beautiful and, according to the unanimous testimony of the 
fishermen, appropriately-named fiord. We were thus enabled, during the few 
days that our boat-voyage lasted, to map it and ascertain the character of its 
somewhat uniform geology. Its shores are occupied exclusively by the same 
red, green, and dark-gray kinds of slate which in Ice-Fiord are covered by 
mountain-limestone strata, with Producti , and in Mount Hecla form the upper¬ 
most stratum of the vast series of schists to which the name of that mountain has 
been applied. But, as yet, no petrifactions had been discovered in these strata. 
Their age was accordingly somewhat doubtful, and the probable Devonian fish- 
remains which we now found here are therefore a discovery of great value in the 
explanation of Spitzbergen’s geology. The lower slate-beds contained some 
vegetable remains, though probably of too indistinct a character to admit of 
identification. 

On the 2d of September, the boat’s company and the ship, returning with 
our comrades from Kobbe Bay, met at a little distance off the promontory that 
separates Wijde Bay and Liebde Bay. After remaining in that bay a couple of 
days longer, the Sofia weighed anchor and touched at the now ice-free Cape 
Depot, in Brandewijne Bay, in order to fetch away the supply of.pemmican that 
(in 1861) had been left there, an iron boat, &c. We thence steered northward, 
with the intention of passing round Nordostland to Giles’ Land. The greatest 
part of the arm of the sea that lies between the Seven Islands, Cape Platen, and 
North Cape, which, in 1861, was already, in the middle of August, perfectly free 
from ice. we now, in the beginning of September, found covered with a firm crust 
of ice. It was therefore impossible to reach Giles’ Land by this route, and we 
were therefore obliged, after having, for the purpose of botanical and zoological 
researches, remained a short time at Castien’s Islands and Parry’s Island, which 
last, being still encompassed by a girdle of land-ice, was approachable only by 

* Among the already given proofs of this may he mentioned that Torell, in 1861, at Shoal 
Point, met with a bean that had come from the Gnlf of Mexico, the Entada gigantilobium. 




275 


Xote 

walking over tlie ice, to seek another passage, namely that through Hinlopen 56 
Strait. Our course was directed to its southern part. ♦ (Con’d. 

Already, before the end of September, some signs of the approach of autumn 
had been visible, and the hill-tops had frequently in the morning been, for 
some time, covered with a white mantle of new-fallen snow, which, however, had 
melted away again without causing any hinderance to our scientific pursuits. 

But now, during our passage to South Waijgats Islands, a copious fall of snow 
rendered all further researches in natural history on land impossible, and gave 
us clearly, to understand that the season for our purely scientific pursuits was to 
be considered as at an end. We accordingly turned back at Mount Lo\fen, in 
the southern part of Hinlopen Strait, having first on that spot collected, from under 
snow of a foot deep, an additional number of mountain-limestone petrifactions. 

On the 12th of September we again anchored at our coal depot on Amsterdam 
Island, and there met our second coal-ship, by which some of the members of 
the expedition (Fries, Holmgren, Malmgren, Naucklioff, and Smitt) returned to 
Norway, carrying with them the valuable collections of objects of natural history 
which the expedition had, up to that time, succeeded in acquiring. These col¬ 
lections have now happily arrived in Stockholm, and will, after having been 
duly studied, be divided between the National Museum in that city, where 
already the extraordinarily rich Arctic collections formed by the preceding 
Swedish expeditions are preserved, and the Museum of Goteborg, the city whose 
liberal initiative first gave occasion to the new expedition. To give an idea of 
the extent of these collections, I need only refer to the notices above given of 
our geological operations, and remark that the zoological sciences were repre¬ 
sented by no less than three members of the expedition, who, besides, had with 
them a taxidermist. Messrs. Malmgren and Smitt had also at their disposal a 
boat, manned with four men, for dredging every day, holidays excepted, when 
the ship lay still. They were thus enabled not only to make a searching exam¬ 
ination of the Arctic marine fauna, which, in individual copiousness at least, is 
comparable with that of many more southern countries, but also to pay due 
attention to the terrestrial fauna of the locality, more especially the entomolo¬ 
gical branch, which is poor, both with respect to individuals and species, and 
accordingly presented especial difficulties to its investigator, Mr. Holmgren. 

The dredgings also yielded rich contributions to the ocean’s alga-flora. Every 
opportunity that offered itself for land-excursions was used by the two botanists 
of the expedition, both for investigating the flora and for forming a collection of 
specimens for normal herbaria of Spitzbergen’s phanerogamia, mosses, lichens, 
and algae. 

On the 16th of September we took leave of our homeward-bound compan¬ 
ions, and immediately proceeded northward. Our intention was to touch at the 
Seven Isles, but these were now found to be still more thickly surrounded by 
ice than when we had visited that tract about a fortnight before. We accord¬ 
ingly determined to avail ourselves of a channel tolerably free from ice, stretch¬ 
ing northward from those islands. / 

After a number of zigzags amid the drift-ice^ our vessel, in longitude 17£° 

E. from Greenwich, succeeded in arriving at 81° 42' N. latitude, probably the 
highest northern latitude a ship has ever yet attained. Northward lay vast ice- 
masses, it is true as yet broken, but still so closely packed that not even a boat 
could pass forward, and we were therefore obliged to turn to the southwest and 


276 


Sfotc. 

56. seek for another opening in the ice 5 but we found, on the contrary,-that the 

(Con’d.) limit of the ice stretclred itself more and more to the south the more we went to 
the west, so that, on the 23d September, in the longitude of Greenwich, we were 
south of the parallel of 79° N. latitude. On the way we had, in several places, 
met with ice black with stones, gravel, and earth, which would seem to indicate 
the existence of land still farther north. 

The ice itself had, moreover, a very different appearance from that which 
we had met in these tracts at the end of August. It consisted now not only of 
larger ice-fields, but also of huge ice-blocks, so that it seems as if the former ice 
had drifted to the south, and given place to new ice-masses coming from the north. 
The temperature had now sunk to 8° or 9° (0.) below the freezing point, (21.2 or 
17.6 F.) and the ice, which in these parts had before been of tolerably loose tex¬ 
ture, had now become so compact that any more violent collision with it was* 
combined with no little danger. Furthermore, the nights were now so dark 
that it was necessary at that time to lay the ship to by the side of some large 
sheet of ice, at the hazard of finding one’s self blocked up there in the morning'. 
Already, in the beginning of September, the surface of the ocean, after a some 
what heavy fall of snow, had shown itself, between the ice-masses, covered with 
a coating of ice, which, however, was then thin, and scarcely hindered the ves¬ 
sel’s progress. Now it was so thick that it was not without difficulty that a way 
could be forced through it. All things clearly indicated that the season of the 
year, during which it is possible to sail in these tracts, was nearly at an end, 
and as we intended to make yet another attempt to find a north passage from 
the Seven Isles, or seek a harbor for the winter, we determined to return to our 
coal-depot. 

On the 25th of September the Sofia once more cast anchor at the northwest 
corner of Spitzbergen, after having slightly struck upon a rock situated under 
the surface of the water in the middle of South-gat, and which has been forgot¬ 
ten in Buchan and Franklin’s admirable chart of that harbor, although it 
appears, from Beechy’s description, that they themselves happened to strike on 
the same shallow. 

After a few days’ rest, spent in inspecting the engine and taking in coal, 
(the last remains of our store of coals had to be searched for under a thick cov¬ 
ering of snow,) and after having placed in the letter-box on the island in Kobbe 
Bay notices of our journey and our plans for the future, we steamed away again, 
on the 1st of October, northward, notwithstanding a strong wind and a snow- 
fog that prevailed in the harbor we left. Our suspicion that this was only local 
seemed to be confirmed when we got out a little farther north, as the weather 
became clearer and calmer, but at the same time we met already, in latitude 
80° 40', sporadic blocks of drift-ice, which, as we proceeded further north, in¬ 
creased in number and size. We continued our northward course during the 
following day, but it was soon evident that no open water would be arrived at 
that way, and in the afternoon we were again steering in a southerly direction. 
During the night we lay to under cover of a large sheet of ice. The tempera¬ 
ture had now sunk to 14°.5 C., (5.9 F.), so that in calm weather the surface of 
the water between the ice-masses was covered with ice of two or three inches 
thickness, which considerably impeded the progress of the ship. But the fol¬ 
lowing day we stood southward till we got into something like open water, and 
then followed the edge of the ice in a northerly and northwesterly direction. By 


Not( . 


277 


this means we again arrived at 81° N. latitude, but here the Sofia met with a 56. 
misfortune, which put an end to all further efforts to proceed northward. In the (Con'd.) 
morning of the 4th of October, during a storm from the southeast, and with a 
high sea, the ship was thrown violently upon a huge ice-block, or rather a small 
iceberg, whereby she sprang an extensive leak. We were therefore forced to 
turn back immediately and seek our harbor, where we arrived late in the even¬ 
ing, after eleven hours of incessant labor to keep the vessel free from water. 
Nevertheless, though all took part in this work, the water continually rose, so 
that, when the anchor was cast at Amsterdam Island, it stood about 2 feet over 
the cabin floor. Fortunately the provisions, being kept between water-tight 
bulk heads, were uninjured, and we succeeded, though with great difficulty, in 
keeping the engine-room so free from water that the fires were not extinguished. 

Had this not been the case, our ship must unquestionably, in a short time, have 
been the prey of the storm and the extremely heavy sea, which now, contrary to 
our former experience, raged among the thinly scattered fields of drift-ice. Im¬ 
mediately on our arrival at Amsterdam Island the ship was careened and the 
leak provisionally stopped, so that already the next day we were in a condition 
to seek a more secure harbor in King’s Bay. Here the ship was hauled so close 
to land at flood that we, at ebb, were enabled to come at the leak and stop it 
effectually. 

King’s Bay, which in summer-time is almost free from ice, was now filled 
with innumerable ice-blocks fallen from the mighty glaciers of the fiord, which, 
when carried by the flood tide in toward land, totally barricaded the harbor in 
which the Sofia had taken refuge; and, notwithstanding that the temperature 
here was considerably higher than in the neighborhood of 81° N. latitude, these 
blocks froze during the calm weather so fast together that when we, on the 12th 
of October, were again in a condition to sail, it was only with the utmost diffi¬ 
culty that our vessel could get out. 

Our stay in King’s Bay, like all the preceding occasions on which the ship 
remained any length of time still, was taken advantage of by our natural phi¬ 
losopher, Hr. Lemstrbm, for the purpose of making observations for the deter- * 
mination of the magnetic constants and variations. The ground was, however, 
too deeply covered with snow to allow of any geological or botanical operations. 

Even the brooks, so copiously supplied with water in the summer time, wfliich 
intersect the lowlands adjoining the coal harbor, were now so entirely dried up 
by the effect of the cold that we endeavored in vain to reinforce our now con¬ 
siderably reduced supply of water. 

Our ship, which had had two ribs broken by the blow that caused the leak, 
was now too weak to be exposed, with the slightest prospect of success, in any 
new attempt to force a way through fields of drift-ice, as would in all probability 
be necessary, should we endeavor to visit the Seven Islands, which place we 
had intended to make our winter harbor; and the wintering in any other part 
of Spitzbergen not having either entered into the plan of our voyage, nor prom¬ 
ising any results commensurable with the costs, dangers, and hardships of pass¬ 
ing the winter there, we determined to return to Norway. But yet we wished to 
make an attempt to reach Giles’ Land round the southern point of Spitzbergen, 
which was probably still free from ice. Already during our passage along the west 
coast of Spitzbergen, which in summer is entirely free from ice, we passed large 
though scattered fields of ice, which farther to the east, near the Thousand Isles, 


278 


Note. 

56. completely obstructed the way. We*were, therefore, constrained to relinquish 
(Con’d.) that plan also, and to direct our course toward Norway. After having been 
once more on the shallow banks off Beeren Island, during a severe storm and 
in a high sea rendered to the last degree boisterous by the shallowness of the 
water, in great danger of being ice-beset, the Sofia anchored again on the 20th 
of October in Tromso Harbor, where we had the pleasure of learning that our 
comrades had happily arrived and reached home in safety. 

From the above it appears that the expedition, as regards its second object— 
namely, hydrographical investigations in the Polar basin—did not succeed in 
reaching any remarkably high degree of latitude; so that the compass of the 
portion of our globe that is known to us has not been to any material amount 
increased by it. I hope, however, that it has afforded a by no means unimport¬ 
ant contribution to the solution of the so-called Polar question. 

A lively controversy has, as is generally known, been of late years carried 
on between the principal geographical authorities concerning the real character 
of the polar basin, some geographers maintaining that it is covered by an 
unbroken surface of ice, presenting an impassable barrier to the progress of a 
ship; "while others look upon this as only an obsolete prejudice, arising in a 
great measure from exaggerated descriptions of the difficulties which the sailor 
encountered at the point where he turned back. That this latter view, fit least 
as regards that portion of the Polar basin that borders on Europe during the 
actual sailing season in the Northern Seas, i. e ., the summer, is not in conformity 
with the real fact, has been proved, not only by the adventurous journeys of the 
older Arctic travelers, but by a number of expeditions sent out during the last 
century for the exclusive purpose of such investigations, among which may be 
mentioned: 

TschitschagofFs first expedition, 1765, which with their ship could only reach 80° 21' N. latitude. 


TscliitschagofPs second expedition, 1766, 

do. 

do. 

reached to 

80° 28' N. latitude. 

Phipps’s expedition, 

1773, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

80° 37' N. latitude. 

Buchan and Franklin’s expedition, 1818, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

80° 34' N. latitude. 

Scoresby’s expedition, 

1806, . 

do. 

do. 

do. 

81° 30' N. latitude. 

Sabine and Clavering’s 

expedition, 1823, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

80° 20' N. latitude. 

Parry’s expedition, 

1827, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

81° 6'* N. latitude. 

Torell’s expedition, 

1881, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

80° 30't N. latitude. 


It might then have been considered as already absolutely decided that it 
was not possible at that season of the year to penetrate very far into the Polar 
basin, and any repetition at the above-named season of the year of these attempts 
could therefore only be looked upon as continually treading in old footsteps, 
which demonstrably do not lead to the intended object. But one doubt remained. 
At the season of the year when, in consequence of the heat of the summer and 
the influence of the ocean-waves and ocean-streams, the ice-masses have been 
reduced to their minimum—that is to say, in the autumn, before the formation of 
the new ice, no ship had ever before visited the Polar basin. One could with 
certainty foresee that it might then be possible to go farther than in summer. 
There was a possibility that one might at that season be able to penetrate very 
far, perhaps to some land lying north of Spitzbergen, which might hereafter 
serve as base from whence to push still further onward. These considerations 

* By ship, but on the ice the party penetrated to 82° 45'. 
t By ship, but in boats and by land journeys as far as 80° 45'. 





279 


Notes. 

constituted the ground for tlie plan of operations for the latter portion of the zg-gz. 
Swedish expedition, and it may now he considered as proved. , 

That one may, during autumn, reach by ship a latitude considerably higher 
than that which has been attained by most of the summer expeditions, unless 
this year is to be considered as unusually unfavorable with regard to the condi¬ 
tion of the ice, we might in all probability have proceeded a considerable dis¬ 
tance farther, perhaps beyond 83° N. latitude. But we have at the same time 
convinced ourselves that, even in autumn, further progress is soon rendered 
impossible by impenetrable masses of broken ice. The voyage itself, moreover, 
at that season of the year, in consequence of the cold, the darkness, and the 
boisterous]winds, accompanied by snow-storms that at that time of the year are 
prevalent in' the Polar basin, and the heavy sea amid the masses of drift-ice 
caused by these latter, is rendered so dangerous that the risk to which the 
traveler exposes himself is far from being compensated by the meager prospect 
of success. The idea itself of an open Polar sea is evidently amere hy potliesis, 
destitude *of all foundation in the experience which has already by very consid¬ 
erable sacrifices been gained $ and the only way to approach the Pole, which 
can be attempted with any probability of succeeding, is that proposed by the 
most celebrated Arctic authorities of England, viz, that of—after having passed 
the winter at the Seven Islands, or at Smith Sound—continuing the journey 
toward the north on sledges in the spring. 


57 Kongl. Yetenskaps-Academiens Handlingar,” (transactions of the Swed- 57. 
ish Royal Academy of Sciences,) 18GQ, No. 11. 

r 

58 Manuscript of Dr. Bessels, October, 1869. * 58 * 

[For an account of Dr. Bessel’s expedition see liis two letters to Dr. Petermann, in note 125. 

—Hydrographic Office.] 

50 Middendorf, Sibirische Reise, (Siberian voyage,) iv, i, 3d number, p. 507. 59. 

60 Voyage des decouvertes de la corvette L’Astrolabe, execute pendant les 60 , 

aimers 1826-1829, sous le commendement de M. Jules Dumont D’Urville. 
Observations de physique, pp. 69 et seq. Paris, 1834. 

61 Memoire sur les temperatures de la Mer Glaciale, a la surface, a des ei. 
gran (les profondeurs, et dans le voisinage de glaciers de, Spitzberg. Par Cb. 
Martins, member de la Commission scientifique du Nord. Pans, 1848. 

62 Manuscript of tlie Royal Commission on the Irish oyster-fisheries, dated 6 "*• 

Dublin December 3,18G9. All the observations were made at noon, on the oys¬ 
ter beds near the coast, when such were found, else in shallow water near the 
coast one foot below the surface. At sea, generally half a mile from the shore, 

at depths of not less than three fathoms, the thermometer was lowered sis feet 
below the surface. 


« 


280 


Kotes. 

63-67. 


64. 


65. 


66 . 


67. 


63 The distance between the points of observation on tbe coast and at sea 
varied from nine feet to one nautical mile; tbe depth of the water, according to 
the state of tide, between 2 feet and 6 fathoms. 

64 The distance of the various stations of observing at sea from the shore 
was 1 to 4| nautical miles; the depth of water, according to the state of tide, 
from 6 to 12 fathoms. 

65 The depth of the water varied, according to the state of tide, from 2 to 8 

feet. 


66 A. M. J. van Asperen, Directeur der Afdceling Zeevaart, Berigt over 1803. 
Utrecht, Maart 1864. 


67 Geographisclie Mittheilungen, 18G2, pp. 431 and 432. The following is 
t*he notice referred to, originally from an article in the Nautical Magazine: “ On 
the proper depths for electric cables as at present constructed.” Captain T. 
Spratt, known for his extensive surveys and soundings in the Black and in 
the Mediterranean Seas, publishes in the Nautical Magazine (1862, p. 1 et seq.) 
his views as to the depths best suited for telegraphic cables, and especially the 
influence of the pressure and of the temperature on the gutta-percha arming. 
Incidental to this he makes the following statement in regard to the temperature 
of the Mediterranean Sea at various depths: 

“ The Mediterranean temperatures are known to be not very low at great 
deaths, but reach their minimum as a permanency in from 100 to 300 fathom's; 
and this minimum temperature seems to correspond with the average annual 
temperature of the locality itself. And as the Mediterranean is divided into a 
series of basins, with comparatively intermediate shallows, it is its surface- 
waters, about the depth of 200 to 300 fathoms, (being that of the barriers which 
separate them,) that unite by their superficial and encircling currents. Thus, 
as the depth across the Strait of Gibraltar is under 200 fathoms, the very cold 
waters in the depths of the Atlantic or of the Black Sea do not intermingle and 
exert their individual temperature in the depths of the central basins. The 
temperature of the deeper waters of the Mediterranean, Archipelago, Sea of 
Marmora, and Black Sea are consequently each dependent on local influences, 
namely, from the solar or atmospheric temperature above them* Therefore the 
minimum temperatures of their deeper parts correspond nearly with the mean 
annual temperature over them. 

“The following are some of the temperatures taken by me in various parts of 
the Mediterranean: 


Grecian Archipelago, July 25. 


Air... 86° 

Surface.*... 78° 

10 fathoms..'.. 74° 

20 fathoms. 74° 

60 fathoms. 64° 

90 fathoms. 64° 

120 fathoms....... 56° 


Off Crete, September 20, 1852. 


Air.;. 76o 

Surface. 75c 

10 fathoms. 720 

50 fathoms .. 590 

120 fathoms... 56° 















281 


Between Malta and Tripoli, May, 1861. 


Surface... 62° 

Bottom, in 295 fathoms. 62° 

Off the coast of Egypt, in April. 

Surface... 63° 

20 fathoms. 61^° 

270 fathoms. 5940 

Off the coast of Egypt, November 15, 1861. 

Surface.. 730 

30 fathoms. 71° 

50 fathoms. 68 ° 

80 fathoms. 64° 

100 fathoms. 62£° 

In the Gulf of Syrtis, February 21, 1861. 

Surface. 61° 

20 fathoms...62° 

50 fathoms. 62° 

290 fathoms. 62° ? 

Gulf of Syrtis, February 27. 

Air. 56° 

Surface.... 60°. 

50 fathoms.. 61° 

100 fathoms. 61£° 


Off Arab Gulf, west of Alexandria , April 6. 


Air. . 68° 

Surface. 62° 

20 fathoms. 61£° 

300 fathoms on bottom. 59|° 

Another thermometer, a simple, minimum, 
at 1 fathom above bottom.58f 0 

Off Crete, June 14, 1860. 

Air .. 80° 

Surface. 73° 

10 fathoms. 68° 

20 fathoms. 68° 

30 fathoms. 68° 

50 fathoms. 63° 

100 fathoms. 59|° 

200 fathoms. 59|° 

1240 fathoms. 59£° 

Off east end of lihodes, August 25, 1860.— Ba¬ 
rometer, 29.88; hydrometer, 74°. 

Air. 88° 

Surface. 82° 

10 fathoms. 81° 

20 fathoms. 79|° 

30 fathoms..78£° 

50 fathoms. 77° 

100 fathoms...73° 


In 300 fathoms water, but the lower tempera¬ 
tures were not obtained for the lower depths. 


“ In the Grecian Archipelago I long since showed it to be constant at about 
54° or 55° in depths from 100 fathoms and downward. In that sea the tempera- 
ture of the intermediate depths between 100 fathoms and the surface, in the 
summer season, ranges from 55° to 76°, and indeed even up to 80°, and 86 ° 
sometimes in the littoral waters of Inclosed gulfs and shallow bays. 

u In the eastern and western basins of the Mediterranean it will have, conse¬ 
quently, a higher minimum temperature than that 5 and I find that it is about 
59° in all depths from 300 down to 2,000 fathoms. But between 300 and the 
depths of 30 fathoms there is an increasing variation from that temperature to 
73° and to 75° in the summer months, but confined more particularly to the 
depths between 80 and 100 fathoms and the surface. But in the winter months 
of December, January, February, and March the upper depth is nearly at tbe 
minimum temperature of the deepest parts below, namely from 59° to 62°, vary¬ 
ing with the locality and depths of water there. Thus it is that in these months 
the surface and deep waters of the Mediterranean are at a constant temperature 
of about 10° or 15° above that of the atmosphere. After the month of March, how¬ 
ever, the solar influence begins sensibly to raise both sea and atmospheric tem¬ 
perature, so that in July, in the southern part of the Mediterranean, it is at its 
maximum of about 75°, from the surface down to the depth of about 30 fathoms 
below it . 77 


Xote. 

67. 

(Con’d.) 


3G 











































282 


Notes 

65 - 75 . 

69 . 


70 . 

71 . 

72 . 

73 . 

74 . 

75 . 


68 H. W. Dove, “ Temperatur Tafeln,” Berlin. 1848. H. W. Dove, “Klima- 
tologisclie Beitrage,” part 2d, Berlin, 1869. 

69 St. Petersburg calendar for 1869. Sinitzdorf, St. Petersburg, pp. 62 el seq. 
A compilation “revised and completed from the journals of the principal physi¬ 
cal observatory.” The author says: 

“To avoid the precarious confrontation of observations extending over very 
different periods, I have adopted for the greater part of the Bussian empire the 
means of the observations for the years from 1838 to 1867. This period of thirty 
years is sufficient for a pretty accurate mean value. Where the observations do 
not embrace that period, I included the observations obtained for the time 5 T et 
required at the three or four nearest stations after correcting them for the distance 
between the stations. In that way I have been able to obtain for the greater 
part of European Russia, for Siberia and Transkaukasia far surer results than 
the previous tables for the Russian climate give. So, for instance, is in the latter 
the annual mean temperature of Baku recorded to be higher by l°.l than that 
of Lenkoran. By comparing the observations of an equal period this anomaly 
will be removed, as will be seen from my table, where, on the contrary, the tem¬ 
perature of Lenkoran is shown to be higher by 0°.45 than that of Baku- this 
difference increases in some months to more than 2°. 

“For West European Russia, wffiere the observations date back to a far 
earlier time than in the other parts of the empire, I have thought it judicious to 
take a larger period. For instance, for Petersburg I have made use of the 
observations during 79 yearsj for Warshar of 61 years,” &c. 


70 Nine hundred and fifty Swedish feet above the level of the sea. 

71 Letter of Dr. J. Hanu, dated Vienna, September 18, 1869. 
n Schmid “ Lehrbuch der Meteorologies” p. 244. 

73 The same, p. 246. 

74 The same, p. 247. 


75 “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1862, p. 359. 

[The notice referred to is from: “Meteorologische Beobachttungen auf deni Atlantischen 
und Grossen Oceane in den Jaliren, 1847 und 1849, yon Dr. Lenz. (Bulletin de TAcad&nie Imp£- 
riale des Sciences de St. P<5tersbourg, V., No. 3, pp. 129 to 155.) 

Dr. Lenz publishes the observations of his nephew on board of the Russian ship Aelita, 
horn which he had already published in 1860 the interesting result, that on the ocean in the 
tropics the maximum temperature occurs half an hour before noon. He now deduces some other 
results. The mean temperature of the equatorial belt from 10° N. to 10° S., for instance, is found 
to be for the Atlantic Ocean 78°.73, and for the Pacific Ocean 78° .5. The observations of the 
temperature of the water in 60 fathoms confirm that there is in the region of the calms a consid¬ 
erably quicker decrease of the temperature with the increase in depth than anywhere else in the 
tropical or sub-tropical zones.— Hydrographic Office.] 


i 


283 


Xotos, 

76 “Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1865, p. 156. Jukes (Excursion in and 76 -so. 
about Newfoundland, 1839; London, 1842, i, p. 312) states that walruses and 
polar bears come to Newfoundland by the drift ice, and are hunted there, in the 
same latitude as Mayence, Paris, Cherbourg, and Brest. Never has a single 
one of these animals been cast on the coasts of Prance or Great Britain, and 
only once (in 1851) has a polar bear, and but once (in 181G) a walrus been seen 
on the northern coast of Norway, although they abound in the vicinity of Nor¬ 
way, Spitzbergen, Greenland, Nova Zeinbla, and even on Bear Island, which is 
distant from the North Cape only 240 miles. 


77 u Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1867, p. 184, et seq. 

[The passages referred to are translated in full in note 4, page 198 of this volume.—H ydro¬ 
graphic Office.] 

78 Map showing the soundings in the North Atlantic Ocean taken on board rs. 
H. M. ship Bulldog in 1860, and Wallich, the North Atlantic sea bed, London, 

1862. 

79 Wallich, p. 145. ' '**• 


80 Scoresby, Voyage to the Northern Whale Fishery in 1823, Edinburgh, so. 
1823, pp. 14, et seq. 

81 Buchan, Handy Book of Meteorology, Edinburgh, 1868, p. 136. si. 


32 Purdy, Memoir of the Northern Ocean, London, 1850, p. 3. 


83 Carl Vogt, “ Dr. Benia’s Nordfalirt,” p. 317. 83 - 

84 McClintock’s Bulldog Expedition, 1860. Proceedings E. Geog. S., v, p. 62. 84. 

85 Miihry, “ Klimatologische Uebersicht der Erde,” p. 571. ss. 


86 Goppert, u Beitrage zur fossilen und lebenden Flora.” (Contributions to so. 
the fossil and*living flora.) Separate publication from “Verhandelungen der 
Schlesischen Gesellscliaft fur vaterlandische Kultur vom Jahre, 1860,” pp. 7 and 8. 

87 Carl Vogt, “ Dr. Benia’s Nordfahrt,” p. 254. sr * 

88 Glohus, 1870, vol. xvii, No. 8, p. 127. ss * 

89 Bulletin of the Museum of comparative zoology at Harvard College, Cam- sa. 
bridge, Massachusetts, Nos. G and 7. Contributions to the Fauna of the Gulf 
Stream at great depths, by L. F. de Pourtales, p. 142. 


284 


Aotcs, 

90 - 05 , 


91 . 


92 . 


93 . 


94 . 


90 “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1867, p. 115, where the following is found 
from a memoir of Ssidoroff in the “ Eussian Westnik,” vol. 63, p. 116, May, 1866: 
“A merchant vessel, freighted with codfish, under Captain Kononoff, sailed in 
the summer of 1864 from Kola, in Lapland, to St. Petersburg. On returning she 
left Cronstadt October 6th, and Copenhagen, her last harbor, [November 1st. In 
the middle of that month she passed North Cape at the distance of 50 Eussian 
versts, (about 29 nautical miles,) then Wardohus at 60 miles distance, and 
entered the Teriberka November 18th, finding there a temperature of —18°, and 
hardly any daylight. On the 5th of December she arrived at Kola.” There is 
nothing said of ice in this report. 

91 Manuscript memoir on Eussian Lapland, by Professor J. A. Fries, of 
Christiania. 


92 “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1865, p. 156. 

[A more full account of the ice in the Baltic, the Azof, and other seas, will be found in the 
“Geographische Mittheilungen” for 1855, pp. 54, et seq .— Hydrographic Office.] 

93 “Geographische Mittheilungen.” Supplement No. 21. 

[This supplement is a monograph by J. Sporer: “Nova Zembla, its geography and natural 
history.” On page 70 of it the following table will be found: 

4 Means of the tempei ature on Nova Zembla , in Fahrenheit scale , 



Shoal Bay, lat. 73°57' N. 

West end of 

Kamenka Bay 




Matotschkin 

on the Karian 



After allowing 

Shart, lati¬ 

Straits, lati¬ 


As observed. 

for the cover 

tude 73 0 19' 

tude 70° 37' 



of the hut. 

N. 

N. 

January..... 

0 

10.4 

9-5 

4-3 

- 2.9 

February. 

5-1 

4.2 

- 7.7 

0.1 

March. 

4.1 

3-2 

4-5 

- 10.7 

April. 

5-5 

4-7 

8-3 

3 -* 

May. 

3 °-S 

30.0 

19.7 

17-5 

June. 

38.0 

37-6 

34-6 

32-9 

July. 

4 . 1-5 

41.0 

39-9 

36-3 

August. 

39-4 

39 -o 

41.0 

37-5 

September... 

3 i -7 

31-2 

31 .1 

30.0 

October. 

23-3 

22.7 

22.3 

20.3 

November. 

x.o 

0.2 

8.7 

3-2 

December. 

4.3 

3-4 

- 3-3 

*2.5 

December to February. 

6.6 

5-7 

- 2.3 

3-2 

March to May. 

13-4 

12.6 

10.7 

3-2 

June to August. 

39-6 

39-2 

38.5 

35-6 

September to November. 

18.7 

18.0 

20.7 

17.9 

Means of the year. 

19.6 

18.9 

16.9 

15.0 


235 . 


93 . 


94 Baer in Berghaus Annalen der Erdkunde, 1838, vol. v, p. 324. 

95 Baer in “Bulletin scientifique de l’Academie de St. Petersburg,” vii, p. 


























285 


* 


Sotos. 

96 From Jime 1 to June 19, and from August 6 to 31. 96-107. 

97 Compare “Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1870, chart, table 8. 97 , 

These statements in regard to the climate of Bear Island are from a report 9 s. 
of the Arctic expedition of Barto von Lowenigh in 1827. (Compare chapter 6, 
p. 40, of the supplement No. 1G to the “ Geographische Mittheilungen “Spitz- 
bergen and the Arctic central region,” by Dr. Petermann.) For a short account 
of this expedition see note 12G. 

99 “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 18G8, p. 223. 99 . 

[The Sabine-Clavering expedition had for its main object observations with the pendulum. 

The expedition left the Thames May 11, 1823, in the gun-brig Griper, observed at Hammerfest, in 
the north of Norway, from June 2 to 23 ; at the N. W. coast of Spitzbergen in 79° 49' 58" N., IP 
4(1 30" E., from July 1 to 24, (during which time Captain Clavering made an attempt in the ship 
to penetrate north, reaching latitude 80° 20' N.;) and on Sabine Island, near the east coast of 
Greenland, in 74° 32' 19" N., 18° 50' W., from August 13 to 31. Returning by the way of Dron 
theim the ship came to anchor again in the Thames on December 19,1823. The narrative of this 
expedition, "Journal of a voyage to Spitzbergen and the east coast of Greenland in His Majesty’s 
ship Griper, by Douglas Charles Clavering, esq., F. R. S., commander; communicated by James 
Smith, esq., F. R. S. E., with a chart,” was published in a magazine of limited circulation, the 
Edinburgh New Philosoj)hical Journal, April to June, 1830, pp. 1 to 30. Extracts from it are re- 
published^n the "Geographische Mittheilungen” for 1870, p. 320, et seq. The narrative is very 


interesting, but contains but little in regard to currents.— Hydrographic Office.] 

100 The Swedish expeditions to Spitzbergen; Jena, Costenoble, p. 258. 100. 

j01 Parry, Attempt to reach the North Pole, p. 158. 101 . 

162 The Swedish expeditions, &c., p. 353. 102. 

103 The same, pp. 128, 241, 247, 303, 353 to 356, 426, 452, 4G0. 103. 

104 The same, p. 432. 104. 

105 »pj je game, pp. 4G and 47. 105 . 

406 The same, pp. 484 and 485. ioe. 


107 “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1868, p. 219. Narrative of an expedi- 107. 
tion to the east coast of Greenland, sent by the order of the King of Denmark, 
in search of the lost colonies, under the command of Captain W. A. Graah, of 
the Danish royal navy, knight, &c. London, 1837, p. 113. 

[As copies of the narrative of Captain Graah’s expedition, the original Danish publication 
as well as the English translation, are said to be now very rare, the summary of it, published by 
Dr. Petermann in the "Geographische Mittheilungen” for 1868, is here added.— Hydrographic 
Office. ] 


286 


Note. 

107 . The Banish, government, to promote the very imperfect knowledge of the 

(Con’d.) eas t coast of Greenland, sent there, in 1828, a scientific expedition under com¬ 
mand of Captain W. A. Graah, who did not return before 1831. 

In order not to fail from the same reason that previous expeditions had, Cap¬ 
tain Graah did not attempt to reach the coast directly, but proceeded first to the 
Banish colonies on the west coast, where he procured from the natives two 
“umiaks,” or woinen-boats, 38 feet long, 7 feet in width, and 2J feet deep, which 
he manned with 4 Banes and 15 natives, 10 of whom were women. The expedi¬ 
tion left Nennortalik, on the southwest coast, March 21, 1829, and reached the 
east coast April 1, but could not, on account of the ice, proceed north before the 
26th of April. 

Graah, not familiar with his very fragile boats and the habits of the native 
crew, made at first but slow progress, the more slow as the Esquimaux left him 
one by one, until only two men and six women remained. Think of an expedition 
of one European naval officer, with two men and six women, pushing along into 
the Arctic; to the left an unknown coast, rent by numerous incisions and bor¬ 
dered with precipices of 1,000 feet in height, from which a hundred times a day 
immense glaciers broke loose and dashed into the sea with roars like thunder; 
and to the right the drift-ice of the ocean! One day one of the women gave 
birth to a boy, who was placed in a corner of the boat, while the mother took to 
her oar again. 

It took from April 26 to June 23 to go from latitude 60° to lati^ide 61° 
47'; but then, after the greater part of the crew had left, one boat was neces¬ 
sarily abandoned, and better progress made with that remaining. 

From the 27th of June to the 22d of July the distance from latitude 61° 55' 
to Vendom Island (Return Island) was accomplished—not less than 310 nautical 
miles in 3J weeks. Subsequently Graah visited the more northern island, which 
he named Banebrog Island, (65° 15' 36" N.,) the northernmost point reached by 
him. 

The state of his nutshell of a boat, of his female crew, and of his provisions, 
as well as his intention to explore the indentations (fiords) of the coast discov¬ 
ered by him, prompted him to return to Nubarbik (in latitude 63° 20 / R.) 
for the winter. After having finished his surveys, he went there to winter 
October 1, 1829, and left it April 5, 1830, for the south. Although the sea was, 
at that time navigable toward the north, he did not deem it advisable to ven¬ 
ture, with his fragile boat and the female crew, during the spring gales, the 
exploration of the sea further northward; he continued his surveys between 
latitudes 63° 20' and 60° K, and then returned to Friedrichsthal, where he 
arrived October 15, 1830. 

What now did Graah find on this coast, which heretofore was pronounced 
inaccessible and not habitable? 

Everywhere he found open water enough to push through even with his 
fragile boat. As early as May 23, the open channel had a width of one to two 
miles; there were now and then accumulations of ice, but he could work through 
every one. In the northernmost part reached by him, in latitude 65°, the open 
sea had, toward the end of August, extended to a width which would have 
allowed, very comfortable sailing and long tacks. There also, on Sneedorf 
Island, he found vegetation more advanced than anywhere lower south. 

In his winter quarters on the small island Nubarbik (latitude 63° 20' N.,) 


287 


there was also a comparatively luxuriant vegetation. These winter quarters can¬ 
not be compared, in the remotest degree, with those of the English expeditions 
among the confused mass of islands and on the coasts of the American side. On 
the 29th of October he had still rain, and very mild weather to the end of Feb- 

ruary, when it became colder, but the lowest temperatures were_G° and_4°. 

In November and December there were a few days of -f 14° and -f 9°.5. In 
February and March the sea was free of ice to a distance of 12 to 15 miles from 
the coast. 

A still better criterion for the climate of East Greenland is afforded by the 
inhabitants of it and their relations of life. 

Graali found the population growing more dense toward the north, instead 
of getting less. He met— 

At two points, between latitudes 00° and 61° N., "32 natives ; 

At two points, between latitudes 61° and 62° N., 70 natives; 

At three points, between latitudes 62° and 63° N., 31 natives; 

At four points, between latitudes 63° and 64° N., 223 natives; 

At two points, between latitudes 64° and 65° N., 180 natives. 

These are comparatively very considerable figures for the generally but very 
thinly distributed Esquimaux population in the Arctic regions. The entire tribe 
living on the west coast of Greenland, between Melville Bay and Smith Sound, 
in an area extending over three degrees of latitude, known by their frequent con¬ 
tacts with Kane and Hayes, counted, when last visited by Dr. Hayes, in 1860-’61, 
to the utmost only 100 head. 

The relations, also, of the necessities of Esquimaux life appear to be more 
favorable in East Greenland. Graah found, August 30, while penetrating 
into the inner parts of Ekallumint Fiord, or u Queen Mary’s Valley,” not less 
than from 200 to 250 Esquimaux assembled, celebrating a jovial feast, having 
caught an immense quantity of delicious mountain-trout fSalmo alpinusj of con¬ 
siderable size. This feast lasted for days and nights, with illumiuation and 
dancing in the latter. Queen Mary’s Valley lies in latitude 63° 30' N., about on 
the parallel of Drontheim. 

Graah describes the Esquimaux of East Greenland as a better and higher 
race, in all respects, than those of West Greenland; of large stature and stoutly 
built; the women of good forms and with agreeable features, among them even 
beauties; in their character throughout most harmless, good-natured, honest, 
and virtuous people. 

At the northernmost coasts and islands visited by him he found the same 
human figures, carved in wood, which have been found frequently, since Behring’s 
time, among the tribes of Northwest America. This is one of the many reasons 
that I believe Greenland to extend across the Arctic central region to Behring’s 
Straits (Long’s Land.) 


108 “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1870, iv, table 8. 

[Chart showing the track and the deep-sea soundings of the Swedish expedition, under 
Nordeuskiold and von Otter, 20th July to 19th October, 1868, by Dr. Petermann. For an account 
of the expedition see note 56; and for a review of the results of the expedition note 115.— 
Hydrographic Office.] 


Notes. 

lOT-S. 


108 . 


288 


Notes. 

109-12. 109 “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 18G9, p. 204, anti 1868, p. 369. 

[The first citation refers to the “Table of currents observed by the first German North 
Polar expedition; ” (compare note 201;) and the other is a letter of Captain Koldewey, dated 
July 19, 1868, in 80° 38' N., 5° 34' E. of Greenwich, the following passage of which is referred 
to.— Hydrographic Office.] 

On the morning of July 4 the weather cleared, with a fresh N. E. breeze, 
and at noon I could observe for position in latitude 76° 03' N., longitude 18° 07' 
E. of Greenwich. According to the dead reckoning, we should have been to the 
north of that, and there must, therefore, be a southern current here. As the ice 
which we saw to the east appeared to be pretty loose, we steered into it, trying 
to make as much northing as possible. Repeatedly we had to press the ship 
through quite dense drift-ice, from which she received some hard knocks. 

We flushed ahead in that manner for two days, when we should have been, 
according to reckoning, in 76° 20' N., 25° E.; the observations, however, showed 
our positions to be 75° 38' K, 23° 37' E. So strong a current to the S. W. I had 
not expected . The ice was now thickening in the north and in the east so con¬ 
siderably that it appeared to me impossible to penetrate farther in this direction. 


ii9. 110 Lamont, Seasons with the Sea-horses, London, 1861, pp. 86, 163, 165. (I 

am positive that 1 have seen the current running among the Thousand Islands 
at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour.) 

in. 111 Compare my instructions of May 6, 1868. (“ Geographische Mittlieilun- 

gen,” 1868, pp. 214 and 215.) 

112 . 112 “Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1868, p. 341. 

[Captain Gray placed his views before the Royal Geographical Society in the following let¬ 
ter to its President, printed in the Proceedings of the Society, vol. xii, p. 196 et seq .— Hydro- 
graphic Office.] 

Letter to Sir Roderick I. Murchison , on a voyage to the Northeast Coast of Green - 
land. By David Gray , Esq. 

“Peterhead, 22 d February , 1868. 

“Sir: I have been much gratified by observing that the Royal Geograph¬ 
ical Society has revived, with earnestness, the question of the propriety of 
organizing an expedition with the view of reaching the North Pole. I think it 
is evident that the voice of the country will not permit the important geograph¬ 
ical discoveries which such an expedition would undoubtedly effect to be longer 
delayed; and that, after so much has been done by British seamen to acquire 
the experience and information requisite for the successful conduct of such an 
expedition, it is a point of national honor that it should not be prosecuted other¬ 
wise thau by their energies and exertions. 

“As I am about to sail on a voyage to the Arctic seas, and as the question 
will no doubt receive further discussion in my absence, I may be permitted to 
offer for consideration the views which much thought and experience of many 
years of Arctic navigation have led me to entertain regarding the route by 
which, as it appears to me, the Pole may be most easily reached, with the great- 


289 


est amount of economy and safety to the expedition which may be engaged in 
that service. 

u The views of Captain Sherard Osborn and the other distinguished navi- 
gators who have written and spoken on this subject, and who recommend Spitz- 
bergen, Behrings Straits, and Baffin’s Bay as the three routes by whicli the 
I olar Sea may be reached, are entitled to every consideration and respect; but 
I humbly think that none of these possess the advantages of a fourth route, viz 

by tlie easfc coast of Greenland, which it is my purpose to advocate in this com¬ 
munication. 

u Having for many years pursued the whale fishery on the east coast of 
Greenland, and observed the tides, the set of currents, and the state of the ice 
in that locality, at various seasons of the year, I think that little, if any, diffi¬ 
culty would be experienced in carrying a vessel in a single season to a very high 
latitude, if not to the Pole itself, by taking the ice at about the latitude of 75°, 
where generally exists a deep bight, sometimes running in a northwest direction 
upwards of 100 miles toward Shannon Island; from thence following the conti¬ 
nent of Greenland as long as itr was found to trend in the desired direction, and 
afterward pushing northward through the loose fields of ice, which I shall show 
may be expected to be found in that locality. The following are the reasons on 
which"that opinion is founded: 

“1st. In prosecuting the whale fishery, in the vicinity of Shannon Island, 
there are generally found loose fields of ice, with a considerable amount of open 
water, and a dark-water sky along the land to the northward ; the land-water' 
sometimes extending for at least fifty miles to the eastward; and, in seasons 
when southwest winds prevail, the ice opens up very fast from the land in that 
latitude. 

“2d. Prom the comparative rarity of icebergs on the east coast of Green¬ 
land, I conceive that I am justified in inferring that there does not exist any 
great extent of land to the northward; and, if that inference is correct, I am led 
to the conclusion that there would be less difficulty in pushing a ship to the 
northward than if there were comparatively narrow channels to be encountered, 
as is the case in the route by Smith’s Sound. 

“ 3d. The ice on the east coast of Greenland is what is termed field or floe- 
ice, the extent of which varies with the nature of the season; but it is always in 
motion, even in winter, as is proved by the fact that ships, beset as far north as 
78°, have driven down, during the autumn and winter, as far south as Cape 
Farewell. Thus there is always the means of pushing to the northward, by 
keeping to the land-ice and watching favorable openings, without the risk of 
encountering the fast ice prevailing in Smith’s Sound. 

“4tli. I have observed, on landing on Pendulum Island, early in the month 
of August, that the rise and fall of the tide did not appear to exceed four feet. 
On that occasion the land-water extended sixty miles to the southeast, the ice 
in it being in such a condition that it was scarcely necessary to change the ship’s 
course for it; and on ascending the highest of the Pendulum Islands—the alti¬ 
tude of which may be judged of from the fact that it can be seen from sea at a 
distance of upward of sixty miles—the open water extended to the northward 
as far as the eye could reach, with a dark-water sky beyond. 

“5th. The current generally sets in a southwest direction, and the drift of 
the ice, with moderate northerly or northeasterly winds, is from eight to ten 

37 


Vote. 

112 . 

(Con’d.) 


290 


Note. 

112 -iis. miles a day, sometimes reaching, with a strong northeasterly gale, as much as 
twenty miles a day. Southwest winds, on the other hand, have the effect of 
causing the ice to open out, leaving large open lanes between the pieces 5 and I 
have no doubt the same effects would be felt to the farthest limit of the Green¬ 
land coast northward. 

“ 6 th. In the event of an expedition prosecuting the route I have recom¬ 
mended, it would certainly, without difficulty and with favorable winds, in not 
more than fourteen days reach Shannon Island, which would serve for a land- 
base for its future operations, unless one were desired farther north, which could 
be obtained. Thus, supposing the expedition to sail in the early part of June, 
it would reach the field of its operations in six weeks’ less time than it would 
have to reach the entrance of Smith’s Sound 5 and, instead of having only a short 
time in the month of September available for its object, if it went by the Smith 
Sound route, it would have before it the greater part of the month of July, the 
month of August, and the half of September for its work, in w T hich time its 
object might be accomplished. 

“7th. Supposing it Were necessary for the expedition to winter, there are 
apparently many bays and good harbors on the east coast of Greenland avail¬ 
able for that purpose$ and, from the indications which I have observed, there 
seems to exist there an average amount of animal life compared with the other 
Arctic districts. 

“It is desirable that, before the dispatch of another Arctic expedition, as 
'many views on the subject should be obtained as possible, and I trust that this 
may be accepted as my apology for troubling you with this communication. 

“I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 

“DAVID GEAY.” 

[The first German North Polar expedition, under Koldewey, in 1868, attempted to penetrate 
north on the route recommended hy Captain Gray, hut failed on account of impenetrable ice 
which was found blockading the east coast of Greenland, between the parallels of latitude 73° 
and 76°, at a distance of fifty to seventy miles. (Compare the review of the expedition by Dr. 
von Freeden, pages 120 and 121 of this volume, and the abstract of the log-book, in note 206.) 

The two ships of the second expedition, in 1869, renewed the attempt. The Germania 
reached the .coast, and wintered, 1869-70, on Sabine Island; she could not, however, penetrate 
higher on that route than 75° 29 / N. A sleigh party reached as high as 77° 01' N. The Hansa was 
beset in sight of the coast and crushed. (See the preliminary report, page 161, et seq. —Hydro¬ 
graphic Office.] 

U3. 113 Manuscript cliart of Dr. Dorst, illustrating liis cruise in 1869, witli bis 

letter, dated Jiilicli, September, 1869. 

114. 114 See tbe table of currents, in note 201. 

115. 115 “ Geograpbiscbe Mittheilungen,” 1870, part iv, p. 143. 

[The profile of the bed of the Arctic Ocean at Spitzbergen, according to the deep-sea sound¬ 
ings of the Swedish expedition, under NordenskiOld and von Otter, 1868, by Dr. Petermann. The 
following passage is referred to :— Hydrograpihc Office.] 

“Of interest are also tlie relations of tbe depths and tbe currents to each 
other. Tlie course and tbe extent of the Gulf Stream, and its meeting with the 
Polar Stream, can be recognized clearly from tbe batho-thermal lines, (tbe curves 


291 


of equal temperature at various depths.) We see here just the same that we 
perceive in other parts of the globe, where Equatorial (warm) and Polar (cold) 
currents meet—a shoaling of the sea by the deposition of the debris of earth and 
rock carried along by the cold stream. A striking instance of it is especially 
the extensive Bear Island Bank, on which the Polar Stream pushes far to the 
southwest, until it comes to a nearly permanent rest just beyond the island; 
here, as at other places, it forms, so to speak, immense glacier tongues which, ? 
like the Alpine glaciers, carry along with them their moraines, but drop them 
to the bottom of the sea, melted and destroyed, as soon as they meet the warmer 
currents. Where a branch of tlip Gulf Stream penetrates, there are greater 
depths than close to where the Polar Stream prevails, as, for instance, between 
Bear Island and the south coast of Spitzbergen, where the Gulf Stream but 
just extends a tongue, while the greater arm proceeds north along the west 
coast of Spitzbergen, causing there the nearly always open, so-called, Whale 
Bay, until it again meets the Polar Stream at the northwestern corner of Spitz¬ 
bergen. Here also appear lesser depths to indicate the shoaling tendencies of 
the Polar Stream.” 

[The following additional remarks of Dr. Petermann, in regard to the valuable labors of 
the Swedish expedition of 1868, will also be found interesting: —Hydrographic Office.] 

“Of great importance are the deep-sea soundings of the expedition and the 
researches into the physical nature of the deep sea and the bed of the ocean. 

“The second Swedish expedition, in 1861, had made examinations to the 
depth of 1,400 fathoms ; the fourth extended them to the enormous depth of 
2,650 fathoms. Both these soundings were in the sea west of Spitzbergen, 
between the parallels of latitude 76° and 79° N. 

“ It had before been generally believed that the sea shoals gradually toward 
the North Pole; the Swedes, however, have proved that even Mont Blanc could 
be sunk in the sea between these high latitudes, without leaving an indication of 
its site to the passing mariner. 

“The most prominent authorities have maintained that all animal life in the 
sea ceases at a depth of 300 fathoms. They concluded this from the investiga¬ 
tions in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea. But Professor Torrel, in his very 
first deep-sea sounding in the Arctic Sea, in May, 1861, obtained an unexpected 
abundance of animals from a depth of 6,300 feet; among them Annelidce and 
Holothurice , belonging to a class which before was not believed to exist in greater 
depths. The expedition of 1868 brought up living animals from the bed of the 
Arctic Sea, even at the depth of 15,900 feet. 

“Very important inferences can be drawn from the soundings of the Swedish 
expeditions. In the first instance they show Spitzbergen to be connected by a 
submarine bridge with Europe, and thus to be regarded as a spur of the Scandi¬ 
navian peninsula, and as belonging to Europe, while it is separated from Green¬ 
land by a deep basin of water. The sea between the Norwegian coast and Spitz¬ 
bergen was found to be of no great depth; up to Bear Island not much over 200 
fathoms, only in one place 271 fathoms; between Bear Island and Spitzbergen 
still more shallow, the maximum depth there being only 180 fathoms. 

“The western and northern coasts of Spitzbergen, on the contrary, are very 
steep; the sea has, toward the north, at the distance of only 60 miles from the 
Seven Islands, a depth of 1,370 fathoms, and 150 miles from the coast, of 2,650 
fathoms, (in latitude 78° 25' N., longitude 2° 30' W.) 


A'ote. 

115 . 

(Con’d.) 


292 


Notes. 

1 15-30. u The greatest depth (1,400 fathoms) measured by Torrel, September 18, 1801, 
was in latitude 70° 17' 12" N., longitude 13° 53' 54" E. In this depth, at which 
water acts with a pressure of 200 atmospheres, where the light does not reach, 
but air and salt are probably the same as at the surface, he discovered so great 
a number of animals, and such a variety of species, as in other oceans is only 
found at the surface. He describes what his dredges brought up near the north 
coast of Spitsbergen from a lesser depth as follows: 1 We were greatly aston¬ 
ished when we saw the strange animal forms which were raised from the depths 
of this northern part of the Arctic Sea. Our nets and bottom-scrapers were 
swarming with the colossal u Crangon boreas? with their clumpy body and the 
violent jumping motion; multitudes of tender Hypoliihcc , myriads of Merlce and 
Gammari , among them sometimes also a fish of the family Gottus or Liparis. In 
the clay of the sea-bed, mixed with sand, were queer craw-fish of the Cum a 
family, great numbers of shells and snails, as Tellina , Yoldia , Astarte , and Tri- 
ionium, inhabited by large worms of variegated, glistening colors, Terebella , 
Nephthys , Phyllodore , Polynoe , and others. To such sights we were by no means 
accustomed, as such an abundance of luxuriantly-developed species is not found 
on our coasts. The Arctic Sea, in some places, is literally a pulp of millions of 
living animals.” (Compare the Swedish expeditions to Spitzbergen and Bear 
Island, 18G1,1864, and 1868, 5th volume of the u Bibliothek Geographisclier Rei- 
sen and Entdeckungen”; Jena, Costenoble, 1869.) 

[For an account of the expedition see note 56.—Hydrographic Office.] 

no. 116 Lamont, Seasons with the Sea-horses, p. 164. 

nr. 117 See pages 50 to 52. 

ns. 118 Proceedings R. Geog. Soc., ix, p. 177. 

ii9. 119 Middendorff “ Sibirische Reise,” iv, part 1, p. 508. 

130. 120 Wrangell , u Reise kings der Nordkiiste von Sibirien,” p. ii, p. 252, (Narrative 

of an Expedition to the Polar Sea, translated by Colonel Sabine, London, 1844, 
p. 504,) where the following is stated: 

The great Polynia, or the part of the Polar Ocean which is always an open 
sea, is met with about 25 versts (about 14 nautical miles) north of the islands of 
Kotelnoi and New Siberia, and from thence in a more or less direct line to about 
the same distance off the coast of the continent, between Cape Chelagskoi and 
Cape North. Tatarinow, who accompanied the Surveyor Psclienitzyn to New 
Siberia in April, 1811, found an open sea about 25 versts north of that island ; 
as did Hedenstrom in 1810, about 70 versts east of it. Lieutenant von Anjou, in 
1823, traced the boundary of the open sea some miles to the north of these 
islands, as is shown by his track in the map annexed to this work. Our several 
journeys have related the various instances in which we encountered either the 
open sea itself, or the very thin ice indicative of its immediate vicinity, at different 
points of the general boundary-line above described. The Tchuktchis, who live 


293 


near Cape North, when speaking of the polynia in that neighborhood, added i 
that the shore-ice usually extends somewhat farther seaward about Cape North 
than about Cape Jakan. Our frequent experience that north and northwest 
w iuds, and open northeast winds also, are damp to a degree which was sufficient 
to wet our clothes, is also a corroboration of the existence of an open sea at no 
great distance in those directions. During the summer the current between 
Swatoi-Noss and Koliutcliin Island is from east to west, and in autumn from west 
to east. This is confirmed by the relations of Liakhow in 1773, Schalarov in 
1702, and Billings in 1787. The Tschuktchis also told us that in summer the ice 
drifts rapidly along the coast to the west, and in autumn to the east. The pre¬ 
valence of N. W. winds is doubtless the occasion of the S. E. current which we 
frequently observed in the spring. 


Notes. 

20 - 23 . 


121 Erman’s “Russisches Arcliiv,” vol. xxiv, 1865, p. 128. The book of Hed- 121 . 
enstrom, the discoverer of New Siberia, appears to be now very rare, although 
two editions have been published, a Russian and a German. We vainly en¬ 
deavored, in Germany as well as in Russia, to obtain a copy, if even only for 
examination. Professor Erman, who possesses perhaps the only copy outside of 
Russia, had the goodness to republish, at my request, the chapter on the Arctic 
Sea in the Archive, 


122 Erman, besides other places, p. 135. 122 . 

123 “ Geographische Mittheilungen,” 1809, p. 392. 123. 

[The author refers here to the following preliminary report of Captain Palliser, dated Dron- 
theirn, September 22, 1869, and published in the Athemeum of October 16, 1860.— Hydrographic 
Office.] 

“ Steamer Kong Carl, off Drontiieim, September 22,1809. 

“I have come back safe and sound after a pleasant tour. We started very 
late from Drontkeim, owing to mauy things necessary to be done to the ship, and 
did not arrive at the island of Nova Zembla until the end of July. The ice was 
not then broken up, but we experienced very stormy weather and heavy south¬ 
west gales, which terminated in the general breaking up of the ice which disap¬ 
peared entirely. We had, previously to this, gone north about half a degree of 
Cape Nassau, looking for walruses. We then turned back, but could find no 
good anclioiage. We were, however, able to fasten our ice-ancliors to the fast 
ice. It was while lying so anchored that the ice broke up. We were in some 
little danger and considerable difficulties while this was taking place, owing to 
the stormy weather and heavy current; but after the ice broke up and disap¬ 
peared I think we could have gone and sailed around Nova Zembla easily 
enough, but we were hampered by a wrecked crew we had to save and take on 
board, which would have prevented our provisions holding out long enough; so 
we turned south, not going into harbor till we came to the mouth of Matthew’s 
Straits. Then I lowered the steam launch, (a boat about 21 feet long,) and, 
getting up steam and taking the two fangst-boats in tow, ran through the 
Matthew’s Straits, but there was no ice to be seen, either in the Matthew’s 
Straits or in the Kara Sea beyond. A fearful storm came 011 , at the termina¬ 
tion of which I sent back the Laurel, with directions to the captain to take the 
ship through and to join us in the Kara Sea, which he did, and then we got 


294 


Note. 

123 . almost all our fangst, consisting of 49 walruses, 25 seal, 1 wliale, and 14 polar 
(Con’d.) bears, one of which, a fine female cub, we caught alive, and have brought on 
with us. After this we went to the north end of the Samoide Peninsula, within 
three or four miles of White Island, with the intention of going round into the 
Gulf of Obi, but the water was so shallow we could not venture on, as it was 
blowing a severe gale from the northwest, and the captain said that if the wind 
shifted round to the west we should not any longer be able to beat off, but 
would get on the quicksands, the presence of which we could already detect 
from our lead. I was greatly annoyed at not being able to get round into the 
Gulf of Obi. On our return to Troinso we met Lamont in his beautiful steam- 
yacht. We returned through the Waigats Straits, obtaining, during a heavy 
storm, pretty good anchorage at Waigats Island; afterward, by the aid of a 
fine northeaster, we came on and ran 36 miles into Hammerfest and Troinso 
Fiord in twentv-four hours. 

“JOHN PALLISER.” 

Captain Palliser’s cruise is of great interest. Shortly before him the Nor¬ 
wegian fisherman Carlsen had, after passing through the Waigats Straits, 
penetrated deep into the Kara Sea, which hitherto was believed to be always 
full of ice, and had sailed along the Siberian coast to within a few miles of White 
Island, otf the mouth of the Obi, without encountering a single flow of ice, or 
even being able to see any indication of ice, as far as the eye could reach. (“ Geo- 
grapliische Mittlieilungen,” 18G9, p. 352.) 

Had Carlsen’s experience remained the only instance, it might be considered 
a rare exception from the rule, perhaps a happy accident; and eminent authori¬ 
ties even had expressed their doubts of the reported fact, but Palliser’s report 
fully corroborates Carlsen’s statement. The latitude reached by Palliser before 
the ice broke, half a degree north of Cape Nassau, is a very high one for this icy 
region. Palliser’s account of the immense effect of the storm upon the ice, the 
destruction and disappearance of it, accords entirely with the more detailed 
observations of I)r. Dorst farther westward. 

From flic fact that Carlsen could penetrate along the Siberian coast as far 
as the mouth of the Obi, it might have been assumed that the ice of the Kara 
Sea, driven off this coast, must have accumulated on the east coast of Nova 
Zembla; the more striking is it, therefore, that Palliser, after having passed 
Matthew’s Straits or Matotchkin Schar, did not find ice there, and that he 
could go in a straight line across the Kara Sea to the Obi. As far as known to 
us, no other navigator has ever done so. 

A. PETERMANN. 

[A still more decisive confirmation is the cruise of the Norwegian fisherman Johannesen 
whose diary has been published, subsequent to the above, in the “Geograpliische Mittlieilungen,” 
for 1870, p. 193. On account of its value, and in order to show how very useful information may 
be gathered by masters of whalers in the ordinary pursuit of their trade, it is translated entire.— 
Hydrographic Office.] 

Cruise of Captain Johannesen in the Kara Sea , 1869. 

May 31. I reached Nova Zembla and came to anchor on the south coast of 
Mesduscharski Island; there was no drift-ice there, but some attached to the 
coast. 


295 


OlC • 

June 2. Made sail, steering south; no drift-ice, but some ice fast to the 123. 
land; shoal water along the coast, 8 and 12 fathoms, to a distance of one mile (Con-d.) 
from the shore; deeper water along the southern coast, but rocks close in shore. 

June 3. West of Kabanji Nos, where there was some drift-ice. From there 
turned back, sailing along the west coast of Nova Zembla. 

• June 4. No ice. 

June 5. About the middle of the Geese coast; some floe-ice. 

June 6. At the northern Geese Cape; thicker ice a mile off shore, but none 
fast to the land. 

June 7. Crossed Moller Bay; a mile oft* shore loose drift-ice. 

June 8. No ice. 

June 9. Passed the mouth of Matotshkin Shar, (Matthew’s Straits;) no ice 
seen. 

June 10. Passed Suclioi-Nos and reached Cross Bay, (Krestowaja Guba;) 
no ice a mile from the shore and no bottom at 60 fathoms. Variation 16° E. 

June 12. At Cape Bnarfaava, (Cape Schanz?) four miles oft* shore, at the ice- 
barrier. No ice toward the land. 

June 14. At the Admiralty Peninsula, three to four miles off shore; no ice. 

June 15. No ice. 

June 16. Passed the Cross Islands; some pieces of drift-ice three quarters 
of a mile from the shore ; no bottom at 25 fathoms. 

June 17. Off the Pankratjew Islands; a mile off shore no bottom at 60 fath¬ 
oms ; no ice seen. 

June 18. Sailing north ; some pieces of drift-ice. 

June 19. Arrived at Cape Nassau; found the ice-barrier to be distant a mile 
from the cape, extending .in a northwest and northeast direction, but quite thin. 

The current is strong and sets to the east; 1 therefore turned back to the south. 

So strong a current as at Cape Nassau I had observed nowhere to the south of it. 

June 20. At Barents Island, steering south; found the ice alternately 
thick or loose, according to the weather; winds from the south and the west. 

From the 20th of June to the 12th of July continued south; along the coast, 
from Barents Island to Birch Island, I found the ice alternately thick or 
diffused. From Birch Island to Matotshkin Shar the coast was free of ice 
to a distance of four miles, where the barrier was thick and impenetrable. 

July 17. I sailed through Matotshkin Shar, sounding in 5 to 15 fathoms; 
sand and clay; found a strong current. 

July 18. I reached the eastern eud of the straits, and sailed thence south, 
along the east coast of Nova Zembla; nowhere was ice to be seen, and the air 
was mild. After making Waigats Island, (the northwest point of which I 
observed to be in latitude 70° 2P 43" N., longitude 58° 15' E. of Greenwich,) I 
arrived at Cape Mentschikow on the 28th, and steered thence northeast, to cross 
the Kara Sea. 

July 28 and 29. Some diffused ice, (latitude 71° 03' 46" N., longitude 59° 

22' E. of Greenwich,) which had disappeared entirely at noon of July 29; no 
bottom at 30 fathoms; wind S. and S. E.; thick air, fog; by dead reckoning in 
latitude 71° 12' 22" N., longitude 63° 54' E. 

July 30. I 11 latitude 71° 14' 40" N., longitude 65° 08' 24" E., shoal water, 
from 20 to 7 fathoms; clay, pebbles, and mud, with grass; no ice; the weather 
dark and foggy; wind S. W. 


296 


Note. 

123 . August 1. In latitude 71° 01/ 56" N., longitude G5° 35' E., at tlie Scharapow 
(Con’d.) Banks. The land is low, utmost six feet above the level of the sea; at flood- 
tide below water. Three miles off shore there are 8, 9, and 10 fathoms; 
closer in, 12 fathoms; half a mile off shore, 8 fathoms. A little north of 
Cape Sharapow, tents of the Samoieds were seen in groups of four; also ani¬ 
mals, probably reindeer. The land there was higher, the coast rising steep-to 
about sixteen feet; three miles off shore, 10 to 12 fathoms of water; no ice. 

August 3. Proceeded north along the Samoied coast, but at such a distance 
the land, which is low, was only at times in sight from the mast-head when 
within less than four to six miles. Some ice which, however, was destroyed 
entirely within six hours by a gale from the west; depths, 10,12, and 13 fathoms. 

August 4. Saw the coast near Cape Eblarma, and on it Samoied tents; the 
depth beyond the sight of land was only 13 fathoms; closer in, 7 fathoms; no ice. 

August 5. Off Cape Pyindje; land in sight and some thin drift-ice; 10 fath¬ 
oms water three or four miles off the coast. 

August 6. Latitude 72° 49' N., longitude 68° E.; 11 to 12 fathoms water at 
the distance of four to six miles from the shore; farther out, 7, 8, 10, and 12 
fathoms; no land in sight; single strips of ice fast to the bottom ; none to the 
west. 

August 7. Some ice; the west coast of White Island in sight. This island 
is very low; utmost six to eight feet above the sea. The current there sets to 
the north, as is the case along the entire Samoied coast. Ebb and flood tides 
not so strong as at Tromso. With the land in sight from the mast-head, 9 
fathoms water. 

August 8. About three miles off the northwest point of White Island, 5 
fathoms water.* Current northeast, one to two knots; in this direction it is 
always strongest and most constant; southwestern currents are weaker. No¬ 
where was ice to be seen, the air being too mild for it. White Island had a 
green appearance, with the exception of,the sandy west point. The entire Sam¬ 
oied coast, in general, was found to be covered with grass, but trees were not 
seen. 

From the northwest point of White Island I steered northwest, on account 
of the shallow water. The bottom of the sea consisted of sea-grass, sand, and 
mud, but mostly of grass-banks. 

August 9. Latitude 73° 54' 50" N., longitude 69° E.; continued northwest; 
12, 10, 8, and 9 fathoms water; no ice; bottom clay and grass-banks. 

August 10 and 11. Some ice drifting from N. E. to S. W.; 16 to 18 fathoms 
water. 

August 12 and 13. Nineteen fathoms; no ice; steering northeast. 

August 14. Some ice; 19 to 20 fathoms water. 

August 15. Latitude 75° 06' 15" N.; longitude, by reckoning, 71° to 72° E.; 
some drift-ice in a northern direction; 13, 16, 18 fathoms water, but soon no 
bottom at 25 fathoms. The state of air indicated that no ice could be in a north¬ 
eastern, and but little in a northern direction. 

August 16. Latitude 75° 05' 57" N.; longitude, by reckoning, 71° 30'E.; 
some drift-ice; 15 to 16 fathoms water. 

August 17. Steered southwest; single strips of ice; 17 fathoms water; then 
no bottom at 25 fathoms. 

August 18. Course S. W.; some drift-ice; no bottom at 25 fathoms. 


297 


August 10. Latitude 74° 58' 51" N.; longitude, by reckoning, 65° 30' E.; 110 123-25 
fathoms water ; bottom muddy clay. 

August 20. Steered north; latitude 75° 10' 17" N., longitude 64° E.; east 
coast of Nova Zembla in sight. 

August 21. Landed at 4 p. m.; coast low; no grass; in places ice piled up, 
but no drift-ice; drift-wood on some of the sandy points; the sea is deep close 
to the coast, 35 fathoms one-quarter of a mile off; there are no rocks nor banks. 

Steering south along the coast, we made Cape Distant August 23. Nowhere 
was ice to be seen on the sea, and there was a heavy swell from the southeast. 

August 24. Eeaclied the Paehtussow Islands, and sounded between them in 
100 fathoms. Thence proceeded southward, following the coast which is low, 
without outlying rocks. Between Gape Distant and the Paehtussow Islands 
some reindeer were seen. 

August 28 and 29. At the Matotshkin Scliar, and— 

September 1. At the Kara Straits. 

In regard to the ice, I have yet to remark as follows: 

The Kussians say that there is no ice along the Samoied coast in summer, 
until it freezes in autumn. The correctness of this assertion is supported by 
the fact that all the drift-ice which has been observed was thin. But along the 
east coast of Nova Zembla, north of Cape Menschikow, drift-ice was found lying 
in a northern and northeastern direction, and, according to the statements of 
the Kussians, it remains there the entire year; because, as some explain it, the 
currents from the Kara Sea, and the Obi, and other rivers, force it to remain 
there. As the current from the rivers east of the Obi and from the Obi sets 
toward the east end of Nova Zembla, and a part of this current runs thence past 
the southeast end to the west, while the other part flows past the north end into 
the Arctic Ocean, that part running along the east coast of Nova Zembla meets 
the current from the Kara Sea, retaining thus the ice in this position. In 18G9, 
however, the western gales kept the Kara Sea free of ice. 

The shallowness of the sea at White Island is caused by deposits from the 
Obi Kiver, the current from the Obi meeting there the current which flows north 
along the Samoied coast. 

[It will be observed, that tliese three reports, that of Palliser, Carlsen, and Johannesen, refer 
to the same locality, and to the same season, the summer of 1869.— Hydrographic Office.] 

124 Geograpliische Mittlieilungen, 1870, v, p. 198. See the above diary of 124 . 

Captain Johannesen. 


125 i n regard to Dr. Bessels' expedition compare the two letters of Dr. Bessels to Dr. Peter- 125 . 
maun published in the “ Geographische Mittlieilungen of 1869, p. 351, et seq. The following are 
the passages referring to the subject:— Hydrographic Office. 

Spitzbergen, to tiie west of the South Cape, July 31, 1869. 

Latitude 76° 22' N., longitude 7° 30' E. of Greenwich. 

As to our cruise and the state of the ice I have to report as follows: The 
first loose drift-ice we met June 7th in latitude 72° 10' N., longitude 4° 00' W. 

On the 8th, in latitude 72° 22' N., longitude 4° 00' W., we came to packed ice, 
in w f hich no opening was found as far as 74° 10' N., although we kept close to its 
border, as you will perceive from the accompanying hurriedly drawn sketch, 

38 


298 


No<r. 

12 . 7 . which will serve your purposes better than a description. The outer (western- 
(Con’d.) most) line represents the ice-barrier as we found it on our first visit; the next 
inward is the barrier found on our second visit; the third, easternmost, that seen 
on our third visit. 

Where, between latitudes 74° and 7G°, the line is broken, there appeared to 
be a deep bay, the head of which we could not see; the weather, however, was 
foggy, and the radius of visibility not great. Further north there was every¬ 
where thick ice. 

The highest point, latitude 80° 14' N., longitude 9° 52' E., we reached June 
20th. As far as the eye could see there was thick, impenetrable ice. To pene¬ 
trate from here to Gillis Land was utterly impossible. 

As it blew constantly strong from the south, we remained for a few days at 
anchor off Smeerenburg, in hopes that the ice might set further north; but in 
vain. In making the second attempt w T e found the ice as thick as before. We 
had to abandon our intention to reach the Hinlopen Strait from the north. 

The thick packed ice which we had found on the southwest coast of Spitz- 
bergen on our first visit, had disappeared when we came there again, on the 
30th of July. Although our seamen did not believe in it, I can but uphold the 
opinion that the southern limit of the northern ice was pressed downward, so far 
as we found it on our second and third visits, only by huge masses of ice which 
had borne against it. There was now no ice from the South Cape to Carks 
Foreland. It had been blowing strong from the south and south-southeast, and 
nevertheless the northernmost limit of ice was nearly two degrees further south 
than before. I believe my supposition to be the’ more correct, as it is the most 
natural. * * * * * * * 

Bremerhaven, September 24, 1869. 

I now will report briefly the results of our cruise. For my own branch of 
science I could do but very little; for you I was able to do more. I recorded for 
every fourth hour the height of the barometer, the temperature of air and water, 
the wind and the weather, with a description of the clouds. From these data, 
and especially from the observed temperatures of the sea, some valuable results 
will be obtained. I could not, for the want of instruments, ascertain the density 
of the water; I bring home, however, water from various depths of various 
localities, which can be analyzed to ascertain the proportion of salt contained 
in each specimen. An ice-chart constructed on a large scale, and on which the 
courses are marked, I will place before you at Gotha. I sketched views of the 
ice and the shores, where they had any remarkable character, but I could not 
obtain good photographic views, as my developer did not work and I had not 
chemicals for a new one. 

Our attempts to penetrate from the southeast of Spitzbergen to Gillis Land 
were equally in vain as those from the north. We were not even able to reach 
the Thousand Islands, as we encountered the southern limit of the ice in latitude 
76° 50' FT., between the meridians of 18° and 25° E. of Greenwich; and also 
Hope Island (the southern point of which we determined to be in latitude 76° 
35' N., longitude 25° 47' E., 34 minutes more to the southward than placed on 
the Swedish chart) we could not visit. In latitude 76° 00' K, longitude 22° 00' 
E., we found but 24 fathoms water. A bank appears to extend from the Thou¬ 
sand Islands to Bear Island, and thence probably still further south; and there 


299 


were in general no considerable depths to 59° E. of Greenwich. By attaching a 
small net to the lead I obtained good specimens of the bottom and some minute (Con’d.) 
animals. 

e did not land on Nova Zembla. AVhile in the vicinity of its coast we had 
always a high sea, and frequently so very thick fog that nothing could be seen 
at the distance of 20 paces. 

On our way to Nova Zembla we kept as far as possible along the thick ice- 
barner, the northernmost point of the southern limit of which is in latitude 
76o 50 /, extending to longitude 56o E. In general the ice was much thicker 
east of Spitzbergen than west of it, which must be ascribed to the high sea 
coming from the south. The highest point reached by us in the east was in 
latitude 76° 45'; perhaps we may have gone -beyond that, as appears to me 
fiom observations obtained two days after, when the sun came out; if so, the 
limit of the ice lies higher than stated above. The thick ice-barrier extends in 
a wide bight to the headland west of Cape Nassau. The latter we could see 
clearly for a few minutes, but could not reach it. On the 20th of August we 
turned homeward. 

[With these two letters is also published the following of Dr. Dorst, giving the summary of 
the examinations in Mr. Rosenthal’s steamer “ Bienenkorb,” referred to frequently in Mr. Peter- 
mann’s memoir Hydrographic Office.] 


Julich, September 19, 1869. 

The main purpose of our expedition, viz, to reach the east coast of Green¬ 
land, has not been attained, although we tried our best. Each bight in the ice, 
each loose part of the ice, was forced, in order to break through, and Captain 
Hagens deserves really the fullest credit for it; but the state'of the ice was more 
unfavorable, according to all Greenland cruisers, as I)r. Gray, Westermeyer, 
Gray's son, &c., than it had been for the last ten years. To mention only one fact: 
Captain Gray, between latitudes 73° and 74°, and longitudes 14° and 15° W., 
pressed his beautiful ship—as large as the Albert, and of little less horse-power— 
with full steam and under all sails, into the ice, to push through it to the coast, 
but had to desist after seriously injuring his screw, so that he lost 3£ miles per 
hour in speed; and he soon found the ship beset, notwithstanding all his pains 
and hard labor. He remained fast three to four weeks, although trying con¬ 
stantly, by warping, &c., to free himself; he succeeded finally when near Jan- 
Mayen. 

From the Germania and the Hansa (the vessels of the second German North 
Polar expedition) you have heard, in tbe mean time, directly. I can but add that 
the day after meeting for the last time the Germania, we saw the Hansa fast, in 
the ice; unfortunately, we could not, on account of the intervening ice, approach 
her. [The Hansa remained fast, and was abandoned subsequently by her crew. 
See Appendix, page 181.] 

As to my own.results, they are briefly as follows: The physical relations of 
the ice, and especially its movements, were carefully investigated. The density 
of the sea-water was ascertained by an areometer each day twice; in the spring, 
between the young bay-ice, it was found surprisingly high, 1.0315. The tempera¬ 
ture and the density of the sea-water in greater depths, to 150 fathoms, was also 
examined. There were further, each alternate hour of the day, observations 
made of the barometer, psychrometer, of the temperature of the surface of the 


300 


Xotes. 

125 - 26 . sea, of the wind, and of the clouds ; as also an excellent metal barometer read in 
order to ascertain the increase of gravity with the latitude, according to Wiil- 
lersdorff, (Voyage of the Novara, physical part, preface, page x,) as also for other 
purposes. 

Animal life was duly observed, and notes taken in regard to it. Some pine- 
wood logs, more than one hundred years of age, glass balls from the Lafotes, 
and some minerals, were found on the ice. 

A great number of magnetic observations were made on the ice and on 
board, and numerous specimens of sea-water from greater depths procured in 
order to examine them at home. 

Many zoological specimens were preserved in alcohol, bird skins collected, 
in general, everything deserving notice was observed and recorded. I also 
have drawn many sketches of Jan-Mayen, measured by sextant the height of 
Berries Mountain, and sketched aurora boreales, of which many were seen in 
the spring. 

On the whole, I may well be satisfied with the scientific results of the expe¬ 
dition. 

126 . 126 Geographische Mittheilungen, supplement No. 1G, p. 12. 

Barto von Lowenigli, burgomaster of Burtsclieid, undertook, in a hired yacht 
manned with but six persons, a voyage from Hammerfest to Spitsbergen, and 
back again, from the lOtli of August to the 27tli of September, 1827. He was 
accompanied by the Norwegian savant Keilhau, who published a very interest¬ 
ing and important account of the cruise—“ Keilhau, Beise i'Ost og Vest Fin- 
inarken samt til Beeren-Eiland og Spitsbergen. Christiania, 1831.” An abstract 
of it will be found in the “Geographische Mittheilungen,” supplement N. 16, p. 
39, et seq. Compare also note 98. 

Birkbeck and Newton visited Spitsbergen in August, 1864, and sailing from 
there east, came in sight of Gillis Land, which had been seen by the Swedish 
expedition from the White Mountains (3,000 feet high) in East Spitzbergen, and 
by Carlsen from the Northeast Land, and had been placed in about latitude 79° N., 
and longitude 28J° E. of Greenwich. Newton, however, says that it extends 
from that point about 100 miles to the southward, to latitude 77° 20' N., and 
that an island, 40 miles in length, lies before it, which he named Helina Island. 

Of LamonCs voyage, in 1858, there is, besides his own book, the following- 
short account in the “Geographische Mittheilungen,” for 1859, p. 308, taken 
from the journal of the Geographical Society of London, June 15, 1859: 

“ Arrived at Spitzbergen, Lamont sailed into the Stour Fiord, which he found 
to be not a gulf, but a sound, dividing the island. The first thirty miles of the 
coasts of this sound were steep faces of two or three immense glaciers. The water 
is shallow, generally less than 16 fathoms, and this appears to be so around the 
whole of Spitzbergen, so that very large icebergs cannot form. The formation 
of the coast is such that there first extends a shallow, muddy strand, from a half 
to three miles in width, frozen from twelve to eighteen inches deep, or covered 
by ice. This strand is intersected by muddy water-courses’, in which saxifrage, 
mosses, and alg?e grow, the food of reindeer; at some places rocks of trap- 
formation break through to the surface. Beyond this strand there is a muddy 
but steep slope, ascending to vertical slate-rock, over which the great glaciers 


301 


extend, overtopping them; if there is no fog, peaks are seen, consisting prob- 120-27 
ably ot granite. In the upper part of the sound much drift-wood is found, espe¬ 
cially thin pine trees, decayed and water-logged, also pieces from wrecks; bones 
and whale skeletons are numerous. Some miles inland, also, and at least thirty 
feet above high-water mark, drift-wood and whale bones are found; also on the 
Thousand Islands, high on the land. From these circumstances, and from the 
fact, ascertained by seal fishers and whalers, of the sea getting more shallow 
around Spitsbergen, Larnont concludes that Spitsbergen and the neighboring 
islands grow up above the sea, and with great rapidity, as has been proved for 
some parts of Norway.” 

[Mr. Lamont undertook, in 1869, a second expedition, which returned to Scotland October 
6 . He reached Nova Zenibla in May, and Spitzbergen in June, but found there an unusual accu¬ 
mulation of thick and heavy ice, which did not permit him to go higher than 80° N. Of the . 
scientific results of the expedition nothing is published so far.— Hydrographic Office.] 

127 Geographische Mittheilungen, 1865, pp. 139 and 110. 1*7 

[The passages referred to are the following. Compare also “ Sir James Ross’s Voyage of 
Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, 1839 to 1843. London, 1847.” 

Vol. i, pp. 172 to 182, and vol. ii, pp. 155, 182, 189.— Hydrographic Office.] 

Sir James Ross penetrated, in two places, farther southward than all before 
him (Cook, Beilinghausen, Balleny, and Wilkes) had considered possible. The first 
time, the barrier of packed ice was met January 1, 1841, in latitude 66° 32' S., 
longitude 169° 45' E., but “ it presented none of those evidences of impenetrability 
we had been led to expect from the accounts of former expeditions;” and 
although weather and wind drove the ships directly against the ice, and a retreat 
to the open water would probably have been impossible, they pressed, January 5, 
in latitude 66° 45' S., longitude 174° 34' E., fearlessly into the pack. After the 
outer edge “which, as usual, was formed of much heavier ice than the rest,” had 
been broken through, “we found the ice much lighter and more scattered than it 
appeared to be when viewed from the distance. It consisted chiefly of small 
floes of ice, of fast winter’s formation, with a quantity of hummocky ice of much 
older date, formed by great pressure into very heavy masses; but it was by no 
means of so formidable a character as we had been led to expect from the 
accounts we had received of the southern barrier in those parts where the Amer¬ 
ican and French expeditions had encountered it. With a clear sky above us, 
we pursued our way through the pack,choosing the clearest ‘leads’ and forcing 
the interposing barriers as they occurred. On the 6th and 7th, however, the ice 
became so thick that we were obliged to heave-to in a small hole of water, out 
of which we could find no way to the southward. In the evening of the 7th the 
ice slackened a little, and we bored through it seven or eight miles to the south¬ 
east, toward an encouraging dark-water sky that we had seen on the day pre¬ 
vious. On the 8th a great change in the ice was produced by the calm, opening 
it out in all directions, as we always had found to be the case in the Arctic seas; 
and a breeze springing up from the northward at 8 p. m., we made some way 
through the pack, pressing forward under all sail to the southeast water. We 
sustained many severe shocks in breaking through the interposing barriers of 
closer ice. Thick weather and snow prevented our seeing to any distance before 
us, or selecting our way, while the increasing breeze impelled us rapidly onward, 
so that, at 5 a. m. the next day, we had accomplished the object of our exertions 
and found ourselves again in a clear sea.” 


302 


IVofe. 

i 2 r.. The width of this barrier of pack-ice, through which Sir James C. Ross 

(Con’d.) worked so successfully in four days, amounted to about 130 miles. 

The second time, he pressed through the barrier of pack-ice twenty-five to 
forty degrees east of this, entering it in about latitude 61° 45' S , longitude 146° 
30' W., and reaching again the open sea in latitude 67° 45' S., longitude 159° 30' 
W. It required not less than forty-six days, from December 18, 1841, to Febru¬ 
ary 2, 1842. The details of the voyage through this immense ice-belt (see the 
second volume of the narrative, pp. 145 to 188) cannot be given here. It will be 
sufficient to remark that it was by no means a drifting with the ice, but a work¬ 
ing and boring through and against it; often at the same time against wind and 
current, and this all in a heavy sailing vessel, without the aid of steam. These 
vast masses of ice occupied six degrees of latitude, but being traversed obliquely 
the distance made through them amounted at least to 500 miles. 

It is of highest importance for geography, and for the further exploration of 
the Polar regions, to investigate what Ross found on the Polar side of that ice- 
belt, which all navigators before him (Cook, Beilingliausen, Balleny, Wilkes, 
D’Urville, and others) had considered and emphatically stated to be an impen¬ 
etrable barrier to any further progress. According to common prejudice, he 
should have found a progressive increase of ice and cold, and still greater diffi¬ 
culty of navigation; but this was by no means the case, as Ross himself, a man 
combining with courage great experience and a clear conception of the laws of 
nature which rule in the Polar regions, very correctly anticipated when in the 
pack, surrounded by all .the dangers and terrors of the ice. He says, in the 
beginning of the third year of his voyage: “Notwithstanding the inauspicious 
circumstances in which we were placed, the arrival of the new year was hailed 
by us all with the same feelings of confident hope and cheerfulness which had 
animated our exertions throughout the last season’s operations in these regions; 
and although we had found the pack to extend much farther to the northward 
than on the former occasion, and were at this time beset in so dense a portion of 
it that not the least hole of water could be seen among it, presenting to our view 
an apparently impenetrable mass, so far as the eye could discern from the mast¬ 
heads of our ships; yet we-were encouraged to hope that the clear water was at 
no great distance to the southward of us, for we found the ice in which we were 
inclosed continue to move to the northward before every southerly breeze; it 
must, therefore, have left clear water at the place it originally occupied and 
from which it was drifting.” 

The anticipations of Sir James Ross were entirely correct, because he had 
found twice beyond the ice-belt an open sea, in which he could sail without diffi¬ 
culty thousands of miles. In the first year there was,* after emerging from the 
belt, “not a particle of ice to be seen in any direction from the mast-head;” and 
on the next day the discovery of Victoria Land, with its gigantic mountains, 
reaching the height of Mont Blanc, u restored to England the honor of the dis¬ 
covery of the southernmost known land, which had been nobly won by the 
intrepid Bellinghausen, and for more than twenty years retained by Russia.” 
From then, uninterruptedly, interesting discoveries were made, the more won¬ 
derful as nothing had been'expected there. On the same day the expedition 
landed on Possession Island, which was found completely covered by myriads of 
penguins and u a deep bed of guano, which had been forming for ages, and which 
may, at some period, be valuable to the agriculturists of our Australian colonies.” 


303 


Notes. 

Further, u a great number of whales were observed; thirty were counted at one 127 - 31 . 
time in various directions, and, during the whole day, wherever you turned your 
eyes, their blasts were to be seen. Hitherto beyond the reach of their perse¬ 
cutors, they have here enjoyed a life of tranquillity and security, but will now, 
no doubt, be made to contribute to the wealth of our country in exact proportion 
to the energy and perseverance of our merchants. A fresh source of national 
and individual wealth is thus opened to commercial enterprise, and if pursued 
with boldness and perseverance, it cannot fail to be abundantly productive.” 

At another place (I, 266) it is said: “We saw a great many whales wherever we 
came near the pack-edge, chiefly of a large size; and I have no doubt that, before 
long, this place will be the frequent resort of our whaling ships, being at so cou- 
venient a distance from Yan Diemen’s Land, which affords every means and 
facilities for their equipment.” 

On sailing farther south, through “ a sea entirely free from icebergs and 
drift-ice,” another remarkable discovery was made—the two high volcanoes, 
(10,000 to 12,000 feet,) emitting flames and smoke. Here, finally, further pro¬ 
gress was stopped by a perpendicular ice-wall, resting doubtless on a low coast 
of this volcanic region. 

Although, in the second year, the long and tedious captivity in the pack-ice 
left for the progress to the south but a few days of the least favorable part of 
the season, nevertheless an equally open sea was found, which the expedition 
traversed both ways in a few weeks, reaching even a higher latitude than the 
first year, viz, 78° 09' 30" S., the highest reached to this day.in the Antarctic 
region. The ice-wall also was followed ten degrees of longitude to the eastward 
of the point at which, in the year before, the progress was blocked by the pack- 
ice. 

All this proves that, even in the highest latitudes, the masses of ice occupy 
but a relatively small space of the ocean; that they continually change, drifting 
toward the Equator and gradually disappearing, and that they are not an impen¬ 
etrable obstacle for a Polar expedition. The various explorers found the pack- 
ice not only in different places each year of their cruise, but it is proved also by 
Sir John Koss that it changes its place totally during the short space of a few 
weeks; where, in January, 1841, he had to work through a compact mass of ice 
130 miles in width, he found, on his return in the beginning of March, an entirely 
free sea; and again, farther east, where, in February, 1852, he had encountered 
that immense ice-field of 500 miles in extent, the sea, only four weeks later, was 
completely open and navigable, and nearly entirely free of ice. 


128 Geographisclie Mittheilungen, supplement No. 16, p. 14. 


129 Geographisclie Mittheilungen, 1865, pp. 214 to 216, (instructions.) 129. 

130 Middendorf, Sibirisclie Eeise, vol. iv, part 1, p. 368* iso* 

131 Geographisclie Mittheilungen, 1870, v, pp. 194 to 199. [Compare Johan- 131 * 
nesen’s diary, note 123.] 


304 


Xotes. 

132 - 43 . 132 Geograpliiscbe Mittheilungen, 1869, pp. 352, 391, et seq. [The accounts 

of Palliser’s and Carl sen’s cruises, to which reference is had here, will he found 
in note 123.1 

133 . 133 Bastian and Hartmann, Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie, first year, p. 177. 

134 . 134 Middendorf, Sibirische Reise, vol. iv, part 1, p. 508. 

135 . 135 Wrangell, Reise langs der Nordkfiste von Sibirien, ii, pp. 252, et seq. [Nar¬ 
rative of an expedition to the Polar Sea, translated by Colonel Sabine, London, 
1844, p. 504; the citation is copied in note 120.] Erinann Russisches Archiv., 
xxiv, 1865, p. 128. 

136 . 136 The intense cold of the Siberian winter is the cause of a formation of ice 

in the sea washing its north coast, the like of which can perhaps nowhere else 
be found. When the gigantic Siberian rivers throw off in spring their coats of 
ice, they carry on their long course immense masses of ice from southern lati¬ 
tudes toward thenorth. (W. Dove, intlie “Abhaudluug fiber die Monats Iso- 
thrmen,” Berlin, 1849, p. 24.) 

137 . 137 Geographische Mittheilungen, 1869, p. 36. [The citation from Wran¬ 
gell, copied in note 120, is referred to.] 

13S. 138 Middendorff, Sibirische Reise, vol. ii, part 1, p. 381. 

139 . 139 Geographische Mittheilungen, 1869, p. 35. [The passage referred to 

will be found in note 4.] 

140 . 140 Wrangell, Reise langs der Nordkfiste.von Sibirien, ii, p. 69. [Narrative 
of an expedition to the Polar Sea, translated by Colonel Sabine, London, 1844, 
p. 240.] We found here a strip of ice bare of snow, running along the margin of 
a new crack in a W. N. W. direction. Having driven five versts on this smooth 
pathway, we were astonished by falling in with old sledge tracks which, on 
examining, we recognized as those of our journey in the jmeceding winter. 
As by our reckoning we were thirty-five versts (about, twenty miles) from our 
last year’s route, it is x>robable that the N. W. wind, which prevails throughout 
the summer, had caused the whole field to drift thus far to the eastward. 

141 . 141 Ausland, 23d April, 1870, p. 408. 

142 . 142 Compare the chart of Spitsbergen in the Geographische Mittheilungen, 
suxiifiement No. 16, table 2. 

143 . 143 The Swedischen Expeditionen nach Sifitzbergen, Jena, Costenoble, pp. 159, 


305 


JlOlvS* 

1G7, 189, 194, 22G, 229, and 3G4. Geographische Mittlieilungen, supplement 143 - 52 . 
No. 1G, p. 31. 


144 The Swedisclien Expeditionen, &c., p. 171. i 44 . 

145 The same, p. 194. i 45 . 

4 

146 Athenaeum, 11th December, 1852, p. 1359. [From a paper by A. Peter- 146. 
maun: “Baffin’s Bay and the Polar Basin:”] 

In the absence of sufficient actual explorations of the Polar seas, nature her¬ 
self has supplied us, in the immense masses of drift-wood, with so many track- 
bottles which indicate the direction of the currents. Who would conjecture that 
the table to which the governor of Disco Island sits down is made of drift-wood 
which came from Siberia, perhaps from the frontiers of the Chinese Empire? 

For the Siberian forests are the chief sources of the Arctic drift-wood which, 
coming down from the great rivers, launches into the Polar Sea, and is borne by 
a steady current toward Greenland, all along its eastern shores and round the 
southern extremity to the north, along the greater part of its western shores, so 
far as Disco Island and beyond it, a distance of more than 4,000 miles. 

147 Zeitschrift fur Allgemeine Erdkunde, 1854, vol. 3, p. 189. Compare also 147 . 
the valuable memoir of Gumprecht, u Die Treibprodukte der Stromungen in nord 
atlantischen Ocean,” in the same, pp. 409, et sey. 

148 Lamont, Seasons with the Sea-horses, pp. 87 to 91, (containing remarks 14 s. 
in detail on the drift-wood and the currents.) 

149 The Reader, April 8,1865, p. 40G. [From an abstract of Notes on Spitz- 149 . 
bergen, read by Mr. Alfred Newton before the Philosophical Society of Cam¬ 
bridge, February 27, 18G5:] 

u Mr. Newton then proceeded to remark on the drift-wood with which the 
shores of the Thousand Islands are strewn, which he believed to be certainly of 
Siberian origin, and not brought, as some imagine, by the Gulf Stream; stating 
that, though often worm-eaten, he had never observed any signs of barnacels 
upon it.” 


150 Geographische Mittlieilungen, 1868, p. 217, (instructions.) 150 . 

151 Geographische Mittlieilungen, 1870, p. 19G. [Compare Agardh’s memoir, 151 . 
“The Origin of the Spitzbergen Drift-wood,” in the papers of the Swedish 
Academy.] 

152 [Compare remark by the Hydrographic Office, in the foot-note on page 152. 
125.] 


39 


306 


Notes. 

153-65. 153 Keith Johnston, jr.’s 

London, 1870, p. 117. 


Hand-book of Physical Geography, Edinburgh and 


154 . 154 Findlay, North Atlantic Memoir, London, 1861, p. 345. 


155 . 155 Compare the memoir of Irminger, page 100 of this volume. 

* 

156 . 156 Scoresby, Account of the Arctic Kegions, Edinburgh, 1820, i, p. 209. 

157 . 157 Wallicli, The North Atlantic Sea-bed, part 1, p. 7. 

15 s. 158 Zeitschrift fur Allgemeine Erdkunde, new series, vol. xi, 1861, table 2. 

159 . 159 Scoresby, Account of the Arctic Regions, p. 187. 

160 . 160 Geographische Mittlieilungen, 1869, pp. 210 and 211. [Comj)are the table 
of deep-sea temperatures, note 210.] 

lei. 161 Wind Charts of the North Atlantic Ocean, printed for the Board of Trade, 

London. 

162 . 162 Report of the Committee of the Meteorological Office, by Captain Henry 
TOynbee, Marine Superintendent, Meteorological Office. London, 1869, pp. 13 
and 14. 

163 . 163 H. Mohn, Oversigt over Norges Klimatologi, Kristiania, 1870, pp. 34 
and 35. 


164. 164 The Mean Pressure of the atmosphere and the prevailing winds over the 
Globe for the months and for the year, by Alexander Buchan, M. A., F. R. S. E., 
Secretary of the Scottish Meteorological Society, &c. Edinburgh, 1869. (Pub¬ 
lished also in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. 25.) 

165. 165 Nature, April 21,1870, p. 640. 

In the meeting of the Scottish Meteorological Society of March 30, Dr. Keith 
Johnston read a paper “On the Temperature of the Gulf Stream in the North 
Atlantic Ocean.” He began by saying that he had read a paper on the Gulf 
Stream at the half-yearly meeting of the Society in January, 1862, which embodied 
the results of observations made in the Iceland seas by Captain Irminger, of Den¬ 
mark. That paper attracted the attention of meteorologists, and the result was 
that new stations had been established by the society in Iceland and the Faroe 
Islands, each of them supplied with the best instruments placed at the disposal 
of the council by the Board of Trade. The Meteorological Institute of Norway 


307 


Notes 

lias, during the past three years, made observations of the temperature of the i«5-«c 
sea at the light-houses round the coast as tar north as latitude 71° 06' N., and 
on board ships engaged in the Arctic fisheries. From. these observations, 
together with those made at different stations off the Scottish coast, in Faroe and 
in Iceland, .Professor Mohn of Christiania has just published a memoir on the 
temperature of this part of the Atlantic, illustrated by five charts for the four 
seasons of the year. The five charts exhibited were based on Professor Mohn’s 
theory. The singular distribution of the temperature of the sea between Iceland, 
Scotland, and Norway must, as Mr. Mohn observes, be regarded as the best rep¬ 
resentation of the course and the extent of the Gulf Stream in these parts. The 
line designated as the thermal axis indicates the direction of the principal axis 
of the current. It is along this axis that the warm waters of the Gulf Stream 
are pushed forward by the current to the latitude of the North Cape and Spitz- 
bergen. At the same time the water is cooled as it advances, either from the 
effect of latitude or from the loss of heat experienced on both sides in beating 
the coast of Norway and in melting the ice of the sea between Greenland and 
Spitzbergen. The distribution of temperature, during the summer months, being 
dominated by the solar heat, the isotherms of the sea have a greater tendency to 
follow the parallels of latitude. The thermal axis is, as it were, thrown on the 
shores of Norway, where it may be followed to the west coast of Spitzbergen 
and Nova Zernbla. The distance of the thermal axis of the Gulf Stream from 
the west coast of Norway being not more than one hundred and twenty-five miles, 
its effect on the climate of that country must be very remarkable. Thus we find 
that the west coast, during winter, has a temperature of the air which surpasses 
by from 40° to 50° that due to corresponding latitudes, if there were no current 
of warm water. On the shores of Norway, round to the frontiers of Eussia, the 
current of the sea is directed generally toward the north and east $ and, carried 
by the current to this far northern region, products of the vegetable kingdom 
are often found which had their origin in the West Indies—a fact which proves 
beyond all question the existence of a northeastern branch of the Gulf Stream 
thus far into the Arctic Ocean. 

Mr. Buchan said that, to illustrate the effect of winds upon the currents, he 
had looked into the question of the temperature of the air at various stations as 
compared with that of the sea. Over the whole of Scotland, and as far west at 
least as the Faroes, the winds were southwest in winter, there being very few 
easterly or northeasterly winds. In Iceland a different state of things prevailed, 
the mean direction of the wind being east-northeast. On the west coast of Nor- 
♦ way the prevailing wind was uniformly southeast or south-southeast, that is to 
say, the winds blow to a considerable extent off the land, where, at that season, 
the temperature is exceedingly low. In summer the winds in Iceland continue 
easterly, with some northing in them5 but in the north of Scotland they prevail 
more from the west. On the coast of Norway the summer winds take the oppo¬ 
site direction to those prevailing in winter. The same holds good in the south 
and north of Norway, where the difference was 4° in favor of the sea. 

166 Geographische Mittheilungen, 1867, p. 185. [Compare the extract from tee 
Dr. Petermann’s memoir u The Northernmost Land of the Globe,” note 4, page 
201 of this volume.] 


308 


Notes. 

ior-70. 167 A. v. Etzel, Greenland, pp. 109 and 112. 


168 . 168 Manuscript of Professor Wyville Thomson, LL. D., F. R. S., dated Bel¬ 

fast, 21st May, 1870. Compare also notes 7 and 8, page 222 and ,seq. of this 
volume where the observations are discussed. 


169. 169 From the same. 


170 . 170 According to a communication in the Magazine for Foreign Literature, 

(Literatur the Auslandes,) of May 21,1870, p. 310, Professor Dove now considers 
the Gulf Stream to reach only to Norway and Nova Zembla. It is stated there 
as follows: u Putnam’s Magazine, (New York,) in its November and December 
numbers for 1869, contained two articles entitled ‘ Gateways to the Pole/ and 
‘Dumb Guides to the Pole/ in which the well-known theory, advocated also by 
A. Petermann, of an always-open current surrounding the North Pole, is preached 
with all the ardor of a propagandist, and which are intended to constitute that 
hypothesis—although it has never yet been confirmed by practical exploration— 
a mathematical axiom illustrated by diagrams. We are anxious to learn what 
Professor Dove, the great German explorer of the currents of the ocean and the 
air, will say to these articles. In one of the last meetings of the Berlin Geo¬ 
graphical Society he expressed as his opinion, founded upon scientific researches, 
that the influences of the Gulf Stream, as regards temperature, do not reach 
farther than to the north coast of .Norway and to Nova Zembla, and that all 
that has been said of an always-open sea around the North Pole is fiction.” 

It is a pity that Professor Dove has not yet published his researches on the 
currents of the ocean, and especially on the Gulf Stream. Regarding the allu¬ 
sion to me, I have to say that I never have advocated a theory of “an always- 
open current surrounding the North Pole;” what I do advocate is explained in 
this memoir. The allusion is, at the best, somewhat unclear and vaguely 
expressed. In the Geographische Mittheilungen for 1869, p. 35, [Compare note 
4, page 201 of this volume.— Hydrographic Office,] I have demonstrated the 
existence of a warm current discharging north of Behring’s Straits into the Arc¬ 
tic Ocean, and have traced it as far as latitude 72° N.; in this memoir I have 
followed the Gulf Stream to 82J° northern latitude, north of Spitzbergen. It 
is evident that these currents cannot cease abruptly in respectively 72° and 82 
north latitude; their further course, however, is not known, and remains to be 
explored by the North Polar expeditions. That a current from the southward, 
probably a sub-surface one, rising in places to the surface, may extend to the 
North Pole, if the latter is oceanic, I deem not at all improbable. No one knows 
anything certain of the currents north of 82J°, (Parry’s highest point.) 

What will these gentlemen say when they read the report of the savans ol 
the late British sounding expedition, (the most important and most successful 
of all the expeditions thus far,) in which they express, as the result of their 
researches, their conviction that, in the Irish and Scottish waters, a stream from 
the North Pole is meeting one coming from the South Pole, executing there, as 
they sportively say, a whirl-dance? [Compare page 75 of this volume.— Hydro- 
graphic Office.] 


309 


171 Letter of Professor Wyville Thomson, dated Belfast, May 21, 1870. This 171 - 72 , 
gentleman, one of the savaus of the late British sounding expedition, is now 
preparing for publication a preliminary report upon the results of the expedi¬ 
tion, to be followed by a larger book containing all details. 


172 On the composition of sea-water in the different parts of the ocean. (Phi- 172. 
losophical Transactions of the Boyal Society of London, 18G5, part 1 , pp. 203 
et seq.) 

LOf this interesting hut lengthy paper only the introductory remarks, and the passages hear- 
ing upon the Gulf Stream and the waters under its influence, can he reprinted here. —Hydro¬ 
graphic Office.] 

ON THE COMPOSITION OF SEA WATER IN THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE OCEAN. 

BY GEORG FORCHHAMMER, PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY AND DIRECTOR 

OF THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AT COPENHAGEN. 

In the year 1843 a friend of mine, Mr. Ennis, of Falmouth, sent me some 
bottles of sea water from the Mediterranean, which I subjected to a chemical exam¬ 
ination, a work which induced me to collect what other chemists had determined 
about the constitution of the water of the great Ocean. This labor convinced me 
that our knowledge of the composition of sea-water was very deficient, and that 
we knew very little about the differences in composition which occur in different 
parts of the sea. 

I entered into this labor more as a geologist than as a chemist, wishing 
principally to find facts which could serve as a basis for the explanation of those 
effects that have taken place at the formation of those voluminous beds which 
once were deposited at the bottom of the ocean. I thought that it was abso¬ 
lutely necessary to know with precision the composition of the water of the 
present ocean, in order to form an opinion about the action of that ocean from 
which the mountain limestone, the oolite, and the chalk with its flint, have been 
deposited, in the same way as it has been of the most material influence upon 
science to know the chemical actions of the present volcanos, in order to deter¬ 
mine the causes which have acted in forming the older plutonic and many of the 
metamorphic rocks. Thus I determined to undertake a series of investigations 
upon the composition of the water of the ocean and of its large inlets and bays, 
and ever since that time I have assiduously collected and analyzed water from 
the different parts of the sea. It is evident that it was impossible to collect this 
material in a short time and without the assistance of many friends of science, 
and I most gratefully acknowledge how much I am indebted to many distin¬ 
guished officers of the Danish and British navy, as well as to many private men, 
who were all willing to undertake the trouble carefully to collect samples of sea¬ 
water from different parts of the ocean, both from the surface and from different 
depths. I shall afterward, when giving the particular analyses, find an oppor¬ 
tunity to mention the name of each of those to whom I am indebted for my 
material. 

While I was thus occupied for a space of about twenty years, another series 
of experiments, closely allied to my work, was commenced in England, and has 
partly been published, under the able and scientific superintendence of Bear- 
Admiral Fitz Boy. This most important series of observations regards the spe- 


310 


Note. 

172. cific gravity of sea-water from the most different parts of the globe$ it compre- 

(Con’d.) hends a much more numerous series than my observations 5 but I trust that it 
will not make my work superfluous, but that both these investigations will sup¬ 
plement each other. By the kindness of Admiral Fitz Koy, I am able to com¬ 
pare the instruments, which are used by the British navy, with my chemical anal¬ 
yses, and thus to obtain a comparison between both series. 

I have, at different times, found an opportunity to publish several parts of 
my observations, and in 1857 I collected what had been done up to that time 
in an academical treatise in the Danish language. Since that time I have 
obtained numerous samples of sea-water, principally from places which my pre¬ 
vious examination had not reached. In this new form, and greatly augmented 
by new facts, I permit myself to lay it before the illustrious scientific society of 
a nation to whose navigators I owe so great a part of the material for my inqui¬ 
ries. This part contains an enumeration of the elements which hitherto have 
been ascertained to exist in the water of the ocean, and an explanation of fthe 
methods used to show their presence and to determine their quantity. It con¬ 
tain a determination, as complete as possible, of the distribution of the saline 
substances at the surface of the different parts of the sea, and in the different 
depths at the same place. 

On the Elements which occur in the Water of the Ocean . 

The elements which occur in the greatest quantity in sea-water have, been 
long known, and chlorine, sulphuric acid, soda, magnesia, and lime have, for 
more than a century past, been considered as its essential parts. In our century 
iodine, bromine, potash, silica, phosphoric acid, and iron have been discovered 
in sea-water, and the latest inquiries, my own included, have brought the num¬ 
ber of elements occurring in sea-water up to twenty-seven. 

Next to direct analyses of sea-water, the analysis of sea-weeds and of ani¬ 
mals living in the sea offers us precious means of determining those elements 
which occur in so small a quantity in sea-water that it hitherto has been impos¬ 
sible to ascertain their presence in the water by chemical tests. It is now well 
known that the organic beings collect substances which are necessary for their 
existence, and thus offer the means to the chemist of ascertaining that these 
substances were present in the medium in which the organisms lived, and from 
which they collected their food. As to the plants of the sea, the whole fucoid 
tribe derive the substances of which they consist from the surrounding sea-water 
and from the air with which they are in contact, but not from the soil on the 
bottom of the sea, since that part of them which is generally called their root is 
no root at all, and is not qualified to extract food from the soil and stones to 
which it adheres. Even those marine plants which do not belong to the fucoid 
tribe, as, for instance, the Zostera marina , and which have a real root that may 
extract food from the soil, will most probably extract the great quantity of min¬ 
eral elements which they contain mostly from the surrounding sea-water. As to 
the animals which live in the sea, they derive their substance either from the 
sea-water itself, or from plants that are nourished by sea-water, or from other 
animals that live upon sea-weeds, thus deriving their whole mineral substance 
either directly or indirectly from the sea. I have availed myself of the means 
which the organisms of the sea furnish to determine a great number of elements 
that thus must exist in solution in sea-water. 


311 


Note. 

As to this great number of elements contained in the sea-water, we might 172 . 
ask one question which is of great importance for the history of the earth, viz, (Con’d.) 
how all these elements got into the sea, whether they were in the original 
sea, or subsequently got into the sea, where they are now slowly accumulating. 

When we consider that the sea constantly loses a great quantity of pure water 
by evaporation, and that a large part of this water falls on the land, dissolves a 
number of substances from it and carries them at last into the sea, where they 
constantly would increase in quantity if it were not for its organisms which 
deprive it again of them, we may well suppose that these two effects, of which 
the one acts to increase and the other to diminish the quantity of mineral sub¬ 
stances in sea-water, are pretty equal, and leave the sea unchanged. I will, 
however, not dwell upon these mutual chemical decompositions and combinations 
which, partly depending upon organic life, partly upon inorganic mechanical 
and chemical forces, play such a great part in the changes of the earth ; but I 
hope, at some future time, to find leisure to publish my investigations in this 
branch of the history of the earth. 

The elements which hitherto have been found in sea-water are: 1, oxygen; 

2, hydrogen; 3, chlorine; 4, bromine; 5, iodine; 6, fluorine; 7, sulphur; 8, phos¬ 
phorus; 9, nitrogen; 10, carbon; 11, silicium; 12, boron; 13, silver; 14, copper; 

15, lead; 16, zinc; 17, cobalt; 18, nickel; 19, iron; 20, manganese; 21, alumin¬ 
ium ; 22, magnesium; 23, calcium; 24, strontium; 25, baryta; 26, sodium; 27, 
potassium. 

[In enumerating the above elements, the author discusses also their status as components 
of the sea water, and explains more or less minutely the manner of their detection in it. He 
then devotes a chapter to the “ Quantitative Analysis of Sea Water,” and proceeds as follows 
Hydrographic Office.] 

On the Distribution of the Salts in the Different Parts of the Sea . 

The next question to be considered refers to the proportion between all the 
salts together and the water; or, to express it in one word, I may allow myself 
to call it the salinity of the sea-water, and in connection with this salinity or 
strength, the proportion of the different solid constituent parts among themselves. 

On comparing the older chemical analyses of sea-water we should be led to sup¬ 
pose that the water in the different seas had, besides its salinity, its own pecu¬ 
liar character expressed by the different proportions of its most prevalent acids 
and bases, but the following researches will show that this difference is very 
trifling in the ocean, and has a more decided character only near the shores, in 
the bays of the sea, and at the mouth of great rivers, wherever the influence of 
the land is prevailing. 

In the tables which are annexed to this paper I have always calculated the 
single substances and the whole quantity of salt for 1,000 parts of sea-water; 
but besides this I have calculated the proportion between the different sub¬ 
stances determined, referred to chlorine =100, and of all the salts likewise re¬ 
ferred to chlorine. This last number is found, if we divide the sum of all the 
salts found in 1,000 parts of any sea-water, by the quantity of chlorine found in 
it, and I call it the coefficient of that sample of sea water. The following re¬ 
marks, and the tables which belong to them, will show that there is a very 
small difference in the coefficient of the different parts of the ocean, but that 
the differences become striking in the neighborhood of the shores. 


312 


Note. 

1 72 . A. On the Salinity of the Surface of the different parts of the Ocean and its Inlets. 

(Con’d.) 

In tlie tables annexed to this paper I have divided the sea into seventeen 
regions. My reason for doing so was that by this method I was able to avoid 
the prevailing influence which those parts of the ocean which are best known, 
and from which I have most observations, would exert upon the calculations of 
the mean number for the whole ocean. 

First Region. The Atlantic Ocean betiveen the Equator and 30° A. Latitude .— 
The mean of fourteen complete analyses is 36.1G9 per 1,000 salt; the maximum 
is 37.908 per 1,000; the minimum, 34.283. The maximum lies in 24° 13' N. lati¬ 
tude, and 23° 11' W. longitude, about 5° W. from the coast of Africa, where no 
rivers of any size carry water from the land, and where the influence of the dry 
and hot winds of the Sahara is prevailing. The maximum for the region is 
also the maximum of surface-water for the whole Atlantic; it is equal to the 
mean salinity of the Mediterranean, and only the maximum of that sea oft* the 
Libyan desert and that of the Bed Sea are higher. The minimum is from 4° 10' 
S. latitude, and 5° 36' W. longitude, close to the coast of Africa, where the 
large masses of fresh water which the great rivers of that region pour into the 
ocean exercise their influence. Its coefficient is 1.810. 

Second Region. The Atlantic Ocean betiveen 30° N. Latitude , and a line from 
the North Point of Scotland to the North Point of Newfoundland. —The mean of 
twenty-four complete analyses is 35.946 salt; the maximum, 36.927; and the 
minimum 33.854. The maximum is in 38° 18' N. latitude, and 43° 14' W. longitude 
in the middle of the Atlantic; the minimum occurs in 43° 26' A. latitude, and 
44 ° 19' W. longitude, and is evidently owing to the enormous quantity of fresh 
water which the St. Lawrence, through its southern mouth, pours into the At¬ 
lantic. This region is under the influence of the Gulf Stream, and the corre¬ 
sponding South Atlantic region has only a mean salinity of 35.038. Its co¬ 
efficient is 1.812. 

Third Region. The Northern Part of the Atlantic , between the Northern Boundary 
of the Second Region , and a line from the Southwest Cape of Iceland to Sandwich 
Bay in Labrador. —The mean salinity deduced from twelve complete analyses is 
35.391; its maximum, 36.480; its minimum, 34.831. The maximum falls into 
55° 45 / N. latitude, and 20° 30'W. longitude, just on the boundary of the second 
region; the minimum in 60° 25' latitude, and 3° 15' W. longitude, near the large 
northerly opening of the [North Sea. This region owes evidently its high 
salinity to the large northern direct branch of the Gulf Stream. Its coefficient 
is 1.808. 

Fourth Region. This region comprehends the East Greenland current , which 
flows along the east coast of Greenland toward the south and west , turns toward the 
north when it reaches the south promontory of Greenland , runs along the icest coast 
of that large land into Davis ’ Strait , where it disappears in the Polar Current from 
Baffin's Bay. —I owe most of the samples from this current to Colonel Scliaffher, 
who took them on his expedition to Iceland and Greenland, connected with the 
Northern Transatlantic Telegraph. The quantities being too small to allow a 
complete analysis, I have only determined the quantities of chlorine and snl- 
phuric acid. I have, however, analyzed three other samples of water from this 
current taken by Captain Gram, who during many years commanded one of 
the Danish government’s Greenland ships; and from these three complete 


313 


analyses I have deduced the coefficient 1.813, instead of 1:812, which is the Yrl! 
mean coefficient of the whole ocean. Thus I have calculated the mean salinity of (Con’d.) 
the East Greenland current to be 35.278, while it is in the third region 35.391, and 
in the sea between Norway and Spitzbergen 35.347. These observations about 
the salinity of the current, connected with some other observations which will 
be afterward discussed, make it highly probable that the East Greenland cur¬ 
rent is the returning Gulf Stream. At all events it is no polar current, which will 
easily be seen in comparing it with the Baffin’s Bay current with a salinity of 
33.281, or the water to the north of Spitzbergen with 33.023, or the Patagonian 
polar current which runs along the west coast of South America, and has 
33.960. Nor is it probable that it comes from the north shores of Siberia, where 
such a great number of powerful rivers bring a vast quantity of fresh water into 
the sea. Its salinity is so great that it even exceeds that of the South Atlantic 
region, between 30° S. latitude and the line between the Cape of Good Hope 
and Cape Horn, whose salinity is only 35.038. 

Fifth Region , A. The Baffin's Bay and Davis ’ Straits Region .—The mean of 
eight complete analyses is 33.281; the maximum 34.414; the minimum 32.304. 

This region shows the very interesting fact that its salinity increases on passing 
from latitude 64° toward the north, being in 64°, 32.926; in 67°, 33.187; some¬ 
what further to the north 33.446 ; and in latitude 69° 33.598. This peculiarity 
is owing to the powerful current from the Parry Islands, which through different 
sounds passes into Baffin’s Bay, where it is mixed with the great quantity of fresh 
water that comes into the sea from the West Greenland glaciers. Had this fact 
been known before the sounds that connect the Parry Archipealgo with Baffin’s 
Bay were discovered, it might have proved the existence of these sounds, 
because bays and inlets show quite the reverse; the further we get into them 
the less saline the water becomes. 

Fifth Region , B. The Polar Sea between the North Cape in Norway and 
Spitzbergen. —I have eleven samples of water taken on the Swedish Spitzbergen 
expedition by Professors Nordenskiold and Blomstrand, of which I have rejected 
one taken in one of the bays of Spitzbergen, and another belonging to the sea 
to the north of Spitzbergen. None of these analyses were complete, and I have 
only determined the quantity of chlorine and sulphuric acid; and even the lat¬ 
ter could in several instances not be determined, since the water had fermented. 

The mean quantity of chlorine in the nine remaining samples was 19.507; and 
if we take the mean coefficient of the four North Atlantic regions, (the East 
Greenland current included,) 1.810, 1.812, 1.808, and 1.813, it will be 1.811; and 
if we use this coefficient, the mean salinity of that part of the sea will be 35.327; 
or if we take the mean coefficient of the whole ocean, 1.812, it will be 35.347. 

The maximum was in 76° 15' N. latitude and 13° 15' E. longitude, with 20.019 
chlorine = 36.254 salt; the minimum in 70° 30' N. latitude and 19° 05' E. longi¬ 
tude, with 18.993 chlorine = 34.396 near the coast of Norway, which evidently 
has had influence upon the result. 

Fifth Region , C. The Polar Sea to the north of Spitzbergen. —I have only one 
observation, of which I owe the sample to Professor Blomstrand. It is from 80° 

N. latitude and 12° E. longitude, containing 18.517 chlorine, which gives, with a 
coefficient 1.812, a salinity of 33.623. 

Sixth Region. The German Ocean , or the North Sea. —The mean of six complete 
analyses is 32.823 per 1,000 salt; the maximum is 35.041; the minimum, 30.530 
40 


314 


Note. 

172 . per 1,000 salt. The maximum is from the mouth of the channel near the Gal- 
(Con’d.) lopper, and the minimum is from Heligoland, where the water of the Elbe has a 
considerable influence. The mean coefficient is 1.816, which also shows the 
influence of the land. 

Seventh Region. The Kattegat and the Sound.—The quantity of salt in the 
water of this region is very variable ; a northerly current and wind bring water 
which is richer in salt than that brought by a southerly current and wind. The 
mean of six complete analyses and 141 observations, in which only the chlorine 
• was determined, gives 16.230 per 1,000 salt, the maximum 23.243, and the mini¬ 
mum 10.869. It must further be remarked that the proportion of chlorine and 
lime, which in the whole ocean are in mean number 100:2.96, in this region are 
100:3.29, which again must be considered as depending upon the influence of the 
land. The mean coefficient is 1.814. 

Mglith Region. The Baltic .—The mean numbers are deduced from complete 
analyses of samples of sea-water taken on board the frigate Bellona, on a voyage 
from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg, combined with a complete analysis of water 
from Svartklubben to the north of Stockholm. Its salinity varies very much in 
the different localities, and is of course less in the eastern than in the western 
portions of the Baltic; it varies also in the same place, according to wind and 
current. I found the mean for this region 4.931 per 1,000 salt; the maximum 
7.481 in the channel between Bornholm and Sweden; the minimum, in the mer¬ 
chant harbor of Kronstadt, = 0.610 per 1,000 salt. The mean proportion of chlo¬ 
rine and lime is 100:3.64; in the Bay of Finland it is 100:7.49. The mean coeffi¬ 
cient is 1.835 5 in the merchant harbor of Kronstadt it is 2.230. The influence 
of the land is here expressed in these different numbers. 

Ninth Region. The Mediterranean. —All my observations lie between the 
Straits of Gibraltar and the Greek Archipelago. It is a general belief that the 
water of the Mediterranean contains more salt than the water of the ocean in 
general; and this opinion depends partly upon some analyses, partly upon the 
observation that, at the Straits of Gibraltar, there is a constant upper-current 
which runs into the Mediterranean, and an under-current which carries its waters 
into the Atlantic. This opinion of the superior salinity of the Mediterranean 
has been completely confirmed by eleven complete analyses of water taken 
between the Straits of Gibraltar and the Greek Archipelago. 

The mean salinity of this region is 37.936, while the whole ocean contains 
34.388 per 1,000 salt. Its coefficient is 1.815. Its maximum (39.257) falls between 
the Island of Candia and the African shore off the Libyan Desert, as the maxi¬ 
mum of the Atlantic is off the Sahara; but the mean of the Mediterranean is a 
little higher than the maximum of the Atlantic. The whole Mediterranean is 
under the influence of Africa and its hot and dry winds. 

The minimum for the Mediterranean is at the Straits of Gibraltar, with 
36.301; the mean salinity of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, between 30° and 40° 
N. latitude, but more toward the west, is 36.332, (deduced from eight complete 
analyses;) the surface water from the Straits of Gibraltar is thus corresponding 
to that from the Atlantic of the same latitude. 

When entering the Straits the quantity of salt increases rather rapidly, and 
is at a short distance from them, at 4° 02' W. longitude, 37.014; between the 
Balearic Islands and the Spanish coast it is 38.058, and a little further on 


315 


Note. 

38.321; between tbe Island of Sardinia and Naples, 38.654. Somewhat nearer 172 . 
to the coast of Malta it decreases to 38.541, and further on toward Gfeece it (Con’d.) 
decreases again to 38.013, and would probably decrease more in the direction of 
the Bosphorus, but I have no observations from that part of the Mediterranean. 

From Malta to the coast of Africa it increases to the maximum of 39.257. 

There is another opinion generally reported, that the water of the Mediter¬ 
ranean contains a greater proportion of magnesia than the water of the ocean. 

This is, however, not the case; the mean proportion between chlorine and mag¬ 
nesia is for the Mediterranean 100:10.90, and for the ocean, 100:11.07; nor is • 
there any remarkable difference in the proportions of the other main substances. 

The proportion between chlorine and sulphuric acid is for the ocean 100:11.89, 
and for the Mediterranean, 100:11.82; for lime it is in the ocean 100:2.96, and 
in the Mediterranean 100:3.08. 

Tenth Region , A. The Blade Sea and the Sea of Azov. —Like the Baltic, the 
Black Sea contains sea-water of but little strength, and the mean deduced Irom 
three observations, of which one is from myself, the two others by M. Gobel, is 
15.894; maximum, =18.146; minimum, =11.880. In my own analysis of water 
from the Black Sea, fifty English miles from the Bosphorus, I found the propor¬ 
tion of chlorine 100, to sulphuric acid 11.71, to lime 4.22, to magnesia 12.64, and 
thus a considerable increase in the lime and magnesia. 

[The other regions being beyond the supposed influence of the Gulf Stream, they will here 
only be enumerated with their mean, maximum, and minimum of salinity, as follows: 

Tenth Region, B. The Caspian Sea, from five analyses by Mr. Mahner, showing great differ¬ 
ences in the quantity of saline matter, between 56.814 and 6.236 per 1,000. Its mean coefficient 
is 2.434. 

Eleventh Region. The Atlantic Ocean between the Equator and 30° S. latitude. —Mean quantity of 
salt 36.553; maximum 37.155; minimum 35.930; mean coefficient 1.814. 

Twelfth Region. The Atlantic Ocean between 30° S. latitude and a line from Cape Horn to the Cape 
of Good Hope. —Mean salinity 35.038; maximum 35.907; minimum 34.151; mean coefficient 
1.808. 

Thirteenth Region. The Sea between Africa and the East Indian Islands. —Mean 33.868; maximum 
35.802; minimum (in the Bay of Bengal) 25.879; mean coefficient 1.814. 

Fourteenth Region. The Sea between the southeast coast of Asia, the East Indian Islands, and the 
Aleutian Islands. —Mean 33.506; maximum 34.234; minimum 32.370; mean coefficient 1.815. 

Fifteenth Region. The Sea between the Aleutian Islands and the Society Islands, between 38° JSf. lati¬ 
tude and 32° S. latitude. —Mean 35.219; maximum 36.061; minimum 34.157; mean coefficient 
1.806. 

Sixteenth Region. The Patagonian Cold- Water Current. —Mean 33.966; maximum 34.152 ; 
minimum 33.788; mean coefficient 1.806. 

Seventeenth Region. The South Polar Sea. —In regard to this region the author makes the fol¬ 
lowing interesting remarks:— Hydrographic Office.] 

I have only three analyses, all on samples taken by the late Sir James Boss. 

One was from J7° 32' S. latitude, 188° 21' E. longitude, close to the great ice- 
barrier. The water was full* of animalculae, but, notwithstanding, had not fer¬ 
mented. The quantity of salt which it contained was 28.565 per 1,000. The 
next sample was. from 74° 15 / S. latitude, 167° E. longitude; the water was 
muddy, probably from animalcule and diatomacese. The place was not far 
from Victoria Land, at some distance from Coulman Island. It contained only 
15.598 salt. The third, from 65° 57' S. latitude, 164° 37' E. longitude, had the 
surprising quantity of salt 37.513 per 1,000. The mean of these three observa¬ 
tions is 27.225 per 1,000; but this mean number is of very little consequence, 
being derived from numbers differing so greatly. It is, however, very surpris- 


31(5 


Note. 

172. ing that water from the neighborhood of the supposed Antarctic continent 
(Con’d.) should have a salinity higher than anyone found in the south equatorial regions 
of the Atlantic, and only be exceeded by a single one in the North Atlantic 
regions. I am sure that no material fault exists in the analyses, and this curious 
fact must thus remain unexplained until repeated observations in that region 
shall procure us further information. Should the observation prove to be cor¬ 
rect it would render the existence of a “Gulf Stream” in the Antarctic zone very 
probable. 

There.is still another peculiarity in these observations which deserves atten¬ 
tion, viz, the great proportion of sulphuric acid to chlorine. In the water in the 
neighborhood of Coulman’s Island it is 12.47:100, and in that from 65° 57' S. 
latitude 12.55:100, while in the whole ocean it is as 11.89:100. This might de¬ 
pend upon the very pronounced volcanic character of the Antarctic continent. 

There is still one question to be discussed with respect to the Antarctic Sea— 
how it is to enter into the mean numbers of the whole ocean. The observation 
from the neighborhood of Goulman’s Island must be rejected, because it is too near 
the land, and we have no corresponding observations from the open Antarctic 
Ocean. Its high coefficient, 1.861, shows the great influence of the neighboring 
land. The observation from 65° 57' S. latitude must also be rejected as doubt¬ 
ful; there remains only the observation from the neighborhood of the great ice- 
barrier, and I have taken that for the mean of the Antarctic region. 

General Results of the Preceding Investigation. 

If we except the North Sea, the Kattegat, Sound, and Baltic, the Mediter¬ 
ranean and Black Sea, the Caribbean and the Bed Sea, which have all the 
characters of bays of the great ocean, the mean numbers are the following: 


Sea-water. 

Chlorine. 

Sulphuric acid. 

Lime. 

Magnesia. 

All salts. 

Coefficient. 

1,000 

18.999 

IOO. 

429 . 

2.258 

xi. 88 

45 - 

0.556 

2- 93 

16. 

2.096 

11. 03 

82. 

34.404 

1.812 

Equivalents... 






Thus it is evident that sea-water in its totality is as little a chemical com¬ 
pound as the atmospheric air; that it is composed of solutions of different chemi¬ 
cal compounds; that it is neutral, because it everywhere in the atmosphere finds 
carbonic acid to neutralize its bases, and everywhere on its bottom and shores 
finds carbonate of lime to neutralize any prevailing strong acid; that, lastly, the 
great stability of its composition depends upon its enormous mass and its con¬ 
stant motion, which occasions that any local variation is evanescent compared 
to the whole quantity of salt. 

If we take the mean numbers for the five regions of the Atlantic, between 
the southernmost point of Greenland and that of South America, we find the 
mean quantity of salt for the whole Atlantic 35.833, while the sea between Africa 
and the East Indies has only 33.850; the sea between the East Indies and the 
Aleutic Islands, 33.569; and the South Sea, between the Aleutic Islands and 
the Society Islands, 35.219 per 1,000 salt. The Atlantic is thus that part of the 
ocean which contains the greatest proportion of salt, which result is rather sur¬ 
prising if we consider the vast quantity of fresh water which the rivers of 













317 


Note 

Africa, America, and Europe pour into it: of Africa four-fifths are drained into 172 
the Atlantic either directly or through the Mediterranean $ it is most probably < Con ’ d - 
nine-tenths of America which is drained into the Atlantic, since the Cordilleras 
run close to the western shore of the continent; and of Europe, also, about nine- 
tenths of its surface sends its superfluous water to the Atlantic. This greater 
quantity ot fresh water from the land, and the greater quantity of salts in the 
corresponding sea, seem to contradict each other, but can be explained by a 
higher temperature, and, as the result of this higher temperature, a greater 
evaporation. 

Some of the large bays of the ocean have in the tropical or sub-tropical zone 
a greater mean than the Atlantic. Such are the Mediterranean, with 37.936 per 
1,000 salt, (mean of eleven observations) 5 the Caribbean Sea, with 36.104 per 
1,000, (one observation)$ the Red Sea, 43.067 per 1,000, (mean of two but little 
differing observations,) which is the greatest salinity of the sea I know of. 

In approaching the shores the sea-water becomes less rich in salts, a fact 
which finds its explanation in the more or less great quautity of fresh water 
which runs into the sea. On such shores, where only small rivers flow out, the 
effect produced is but very trifling, as, for instance, on the western shores of 
South America. The effect of large rivers in diluting the sea-water is much 
greater than is generally supposed; thus, the effect of the La Platte River, whose 
mouth lieg in about 35° of south latitude, was still observable in a sample of 
sea-water taken at 50° 3P S. latitude, at a distance of 15° of latitude, or 900 
English miles from the mouth of the river ; at about the same distance the water 
of the North Atlantic Sea suffered a considerable depression in salinity, proba¬ 
bly owing to the water of the St. Lawrence. This influence is of a double kind, 
partly in diluting the sea-water, partly in mixing it up with organic substances 
that will occasion its decomposition by putrefaction. 

The Polar currents contain less salt than the Equatorial. I have determined 
the quantity and nature of the salts in two very well defined Polar currents—the 
West Greenland Polar current, with 33.176 per 1,000 salt, and the Antarctic Polar 
or Patagonian current, on the west side of South America, which contains 33.966. 

It is highly interesting to observe that the East Greenland current, which, 
according to its geographical relations, might be considered as a Polar current, 
which, in fact, has been considered in that way, has a very high mean quantity 
of salt, viz, 35.278 per 1,000, while the sea to the north of Spitzbergen, according 
to one analysis, contains 33.623 per 1,000 salt. I think I shall afterward, from 
other phenomena also, prove that the East Greenland current is a returning 
branch of the Gulf Stream; but I may here remark that the great quantity of 
salt which it contains, almost by itself proves the more equatorial nature of this 
current. 

[After some remarks as to the chemical substances which constitute the salts of the sea¬ 
water the author proceeds to discuss:— Hydrographic Office.] 

B. On the Difference of the Contents of Sea- Water at the surface and in different 

depths. 

It would be natural to suppose that the quantity of salts in sea-water would 
increase with the depth, as it seems quite reasonable that the specific gravity of 
sea-water would cause such an arrangement. But this difference in specific 


318 


Note. 

172 . gravity, relative to the increase in the quantity of salts, is counteracted by the 

(Con’d.) decreasing temperature from the surface to the bottom. We have parts of the 
sea where the quantity of solid salts increases with the depth; in other parts it 
decreases with the increasing depth $ in other places hardly any difference can 
be found between surface and depth $ and lastly, I have found one instance 
where water of a certain depth contained more salt than both, that above and 
below. These differences are, to a great extent, dependent upon currents, both 
on the surface and in different depths. 

The phenomenon of double currents at the Straits of Gibraltar has been 
long known,,and in close connection with these double currents the saline con¬ 
tents of the water of the Mediterranean increase in quantity with the depth. 
There is, however, one exception in the Mediterranean, under interesting circum¬ 
stances, which I shall afterward discuss more at length. I have made eleven 
complete analyses of the surface-water of the Mediterranean, and calculated 
another, quoted in Yiolette et Archambault, u Dictionaire des Analyses Chirn- 
iques,” vol. 1, p. 358, without a more exact reference to the place where it was 
taken. Of my own analyses, one must be rejected on account of the great quan¬ 
tity of suliffiureted hydrogen that had been formed, and of course caused a loss 
of sulphuric acid$ but it causes also a loss of lime, because the formation of sul- 
phureted hydrogen is contemporaneous with the formation of carbonic acid, 
which will precipitate the lime when deprived of its sulphuric acid. The mean 
number of the remaining analyses of surface-water is 20.889 per 1,000 for the 
chlorine, and 37.936 for all salts. The mean number for chlorine of eight anal¬ 
yses of water taken from a depth of between 300 to 600 feet is 21.138. In each 
case the deep water was richer in chlorine than that from the surface, except in 
one instance, where the chlorine of the surface-water was 21.718, and all salts, 
calculated from a complete analysis, were 39.257 per 1,000, while the chlorine of 
water taken from a depth of 522 feet was 21.521 per 1,000. This curious excep¬ 
tion occurred between Candia and the African coast, where the dry and hot 
winds from the neighboring Libyan Desert evidently causes a strong evapora¬ 
tion and a considerable elevation of temperature, which counteract each other 
as to specific gravity. The difference between the upper and lower current in 
the Straits of Gibraltar is, in the surface-water, chlorine, 20.160 per 1,000, all 
salts, 36.391, and in the depth of 540 feet, chlorine, 20.330. 

The cause why the surface-current is Atlantic water flowing into the Med¬ 
iterranean, and the under-current Mediterranean water flowing into the Atlantic, 
has long since been assigned to depend upon the comparatively small quantity 
of water that flows from the land into the Mediterranean, and the hot and dry 
African winds that cause more water to evaporate than the rivers bring into the 
sea. My analyses have not given me any reason to alter anything in our views 
of the cause of this difference, nor do I regard the single instance of water that 
is more rich in salts at the surface than in the depth as more than a local 
exception. 

As to the difference between surface and deep water for other substances, I 
shall only remark that the deep water of the Mediterranean contains a remark¬ 
able excess of sulphuric acid. The proportion between chlorine and sulphuric 
acid is— 


319 


Note. 

For the whole ocean.100:11.89 172. 

Mediterranean surface.100:11.82 (Con’d.) 

Mediterranean depth.100:12.07 

Already in the Straits of Gibraltar the difference has the same character. 

The proportion is— 

For the surface..100:11.42 

For the deep water...100:11.93 

In some places, however, in the Mediterranean the surface-water is richer in 
sulphuric acid than water from the dapth; thus, for instance, the sea between 
Sardinia and Naples had a proportion of 12.55 sulphuric acid in surface-water. 

In the Baltic we have the same phenomenon ; the water from the depth con¬ 
tains likewise more salt than that from the surface, but the direction of the currents 
is the reverse. The upper-current goes generally (not always) out of the Baltic, 
and the under-current goes, as it would appear, always into the Baltic. The 
cause of this great difference between the Baltic and the Mediterranean is evi¬ 
dent ; the Baltic receives the excess of atmospheric water from a great part of 
Europe. The greater part of Sweden, the greater part of European Bussia, and 
a great part of North Germany send their water into the Baltic, and the evapo¬ 
ration is comparatively small. Thus the excess must find its way through the 
Sound and the Belts. 

[The author now explains in detail the manner and the results of the observations made in 
the Baltic, (at Elsinore, Copenhagen, Kiel, near Stockholm, and in the Bay of Finland,) and then 
proceeds: —Hydrographic Office.] 

Going on now to the main section of the ocean, we will begin with the Atlan¬ 
tic, about which we have the best information, and which seems to show the most 
interesting facts. I will state the results of my investigations in moving from 
Baffin’s Bay toward the south. In Baffin’s Bay itself the water of the surface 
contains the same quantity of salt as that of the depth; but as soon as we pass 
the southernmost point of Greenland, the water of the surface contains more 
salt than that from the depth. This difference increases in going toward the 
Equator, and is indeed very considerable near that line. About the Equator, 
and a little to the south of it, many irregularities appear, as, for intsance, in one 
case where the strongest water was found between two weaker portions above 
and below. In other cases the quantity of salt decreased with the depth, and in 
some instances it increased with it. 

I shall now state the observations themselves. Dr. Eink sent me water 
from the surface in Baffin’s Bay to the west of Disco Island, which contained 
33.594 per 1,000 salt; and at the same place, from a depth of 420 feet, which 
contained 33.607. The difference is so small that it signifies nothing. At the 
southernmost point of Greenland a small difference is observed, viz, in 59° 45' 

N. latitude and 39° 04' W. longitude, where the surface-water contained 35.0G7, 
and that from a depth of 270 feet, 34.963; but in about the same latitude, and 
about 13° further toward W., at 59° 42' N. latitude, and 51° 20' W. longitude, . 
the proportion was reversed: the surface-water contained 34.876 per 1,000 salt, 
while that from the depth contained 34.975 per 1,000. 

From the sea between Iceland and Greenland (in which it appears that 
a returning branch of the Gulf Stream—the East Greenland current—runs 







320 


Note. 

t72. toward the S. W.) I have obtained eight specimens, from a depth between 1,200- 
(Con’d.) i ? soO feet. Unfortunately, no specimens of water from the surface were taken 
at the same time, but we have a sufficient number of other surface-observations, 
and thus we may compare the mean numbers, which are 35.350 for the surface, 
and 35.057 for a depth between 1,200-1,800 feet. In comparing the single obser¬ 
vations of the deep water, we find that it contains the greatest quantity of salt 
in the eastern part, at 35° OF W. longitude, with 35.179 per 1,000 salt, decreas¬ 
ing regularly toward the westernmost part of this region, in 55° 40' W. longi¬ 
tude, with a quantity of salt, =34.858 per 1,000. Specimens taken by Captain 
Gram, in 59° 50' 1ST. latitude, and 7° 52' W. longitude, contained for surface- 
water, 35.576 for 1,000, and for water from 270 feet depth, 35.462. 

I have two other comparative analyses of water from the East Greenland 
current, of which 1 owe the specimens to Colonel Schaffner. The analyses were 
not made complete, but only chlorine and sulphuric acid were determined, which 
gives at 64° 30' N. .latitude, and 26° 24' W. longitude, for the surface, 19.616 
chlorine, which with a coefficient 1.812 is = 35.544 salt; for a depth of 1,020 feet, 
19.504 chlorine, which with a coefficient 1.812 is = 35.341 salt. 

The next analysis of water from 62° 47' N. latitude, and 37° 3F.5 W. longi¬ 
tude, gave for the surface 19.491 chlorine = 35.318 per 1,000 salt; for a depth of 
1,200 feet, 19.466 chlorine = 35.272 per 1,000 salt. 

Farther to the S. W., near the bank of Newfoundland, specimens taken by 
Captain Yon Dockum gave, for the surface, 36.360 per 1,000 salt; for a depth of 
240 feet, 36.598 per 1,000 salt, which is an increasing quantity of salt for the 
deep water, and coincides with other observations which show that this curious 
decreasing of the quantity of salt, with the increasing depth, belongs only to the 
deep part of the Atlantic far from the shores. On the European side of that 
ocean three samples, taken by Captain Schulz at 47° 15' N. latitude, and 9° 30' 
W. longitude, gave the following quantities of salt: from the surface, 35.922 
per 1,000; from a depth of 390 feet, 35.925 per 1,000; from a depth of 510 feet, 
36.033 per 1,000; thus showing a trifling increase of salt with the depth. 

The most complete set of experiments showing this influence of the shores 
I have made on twelve samples taken by the Porcupine in 1862, which I owe 
to the obliging kindness of Rear-Admiral Fitz Roy. The samples are taken 
between 50° 56' and 55° 22' N. latitude, and 12° 06' and 15° 59' W. longitude, 
about four degrees to eight degrees of longitude to the west of Ireland, and 
five of them were from the surface, while seven were from deep water, between 
1,200 and 10,500 feet. 

The mean of the five surface observations is— 


Chlorine. Sulphuric acid. Lime. Potash. Magnesia. All salts. 

19.662 2.342 0.566 0.367 2.205 35.613. 

The mean of the seven observations from the deep sea is— 

Chlorine. Sulphuric acid. Lime. Potash. Magnesia. All salts. 

19.677 2.357 0.583 0.363 2.193 35.687 


Chlorine = 100, the proportions are— 


Chlorine. 

For surface: 100 

For deej) water: 100 


Sulphuric acid. Lime. 

11.91 2.88 

11.98 


Potash. Magnesia. 

1.87 11.21 

1.84 11.14 


All salts. 
181.1 
181.4 


2.96 


321 


The difference is very trifling, and the quantities of salts increase in a verv 
slight degree with the depth. 

[Now follow a number of analyses from more southern parts of the Atlantic, and from the 
other oceans, after which the author sums up as foliov/s:— Hydrographic Office.] 

It appears thus that the water of the North Atlantic Ocean, between the 
southernmost part of Greenland and the Equator, decreases in salinity with the 
depth, but that this curious fact is observed only in the middle bed of the 
Atlantic, and disappears when we approach the shores on both sides of the 
ocean. As to the cause of this rather surprising state, I am still of the same 
opinion which I expressed when I first observed it, that it depends upon a polar 
under-current. The hypothesis has been published, that it depended upon fresh¬ 
water springs at the bottom of the ocean, and such an opinion might have some 
chance as long as we only had few observations; but now we have such a num¬ 
ber of observations spread over a vast extent of the ocean, that it appears to be 
quite impossible to explain it by springs of fresh water, which of course must 
be more frequent and more powerful near the land from which they have their 
origin. Observation, however, shows the reverse; near the shores the water is 
either uniform throughout its whole depth, or the quantity of salt increases with 
the depth. 

The Principal Currents of the Atlantic : the Equatorial Current , the Gulf Stream , 
and the East Greenland Current. 

These three currents are, in fact, only the same; they begin, as is well 
known, in the Bay of Benin, under the Equator, and the main current runs 
straight to the west over the Atlantic to Cape Roque, on the east coast of South 
America. I certainly shall not try to lessen the weight of the arguments which 
assign the cause of this Equatorial current to the rotary motion of the earth, 
but I will only give some remarks as to other influences that act to the same 
effect. 

If we compare the quantity of salt which is found in sea-water in the region 
between 5° N. latitude and 5° S. latitude with those between 5° and 20° to the 
north and 5° and 30° to the south, we find the interesting fact that the water 
flowing in the vicinity of the Equator contains less salt than that which flows 
both to the north and to the south of it. For the Equatorial region (5° S. to 5° 
N.) the mean of six observations is 35.575.per 1,000; or, if we leave out a sample 
from Sir James Ross, from 150 fathoms depth, (that from the surface is want¬ 
ing,) it is 35.520. From 5° to 20° N. the mean of eight analyses is 36.279, and 
from 5° to 30° S. the mean of six analyses is 36.631 per 1,000. This difference 
is still more striking on comparing the salinity of the Equatorial region with 
that of the Northern Atlantic region, (second region,) whose mean is 35.932 per 
1,000 salt. It deserves, further, attention that the maximum of the Equatorial 
region is below the mean of its neighbors, both to the south and to the north. 
It appears to me that this curious fact can be explained only by the vast quan¬ 
tity of fresh water which the Niger, the Ogaway, and a number of other West 
African rivers carry in this region into the sea, which all gets into the Equa¬ 
torial current, and moves to the westward. It is evident that this warm water 
must increase its relative quantity of salt by evaporation during its motion 
41 


Note. 

172 . 

(Con’d.) 


322 


tfote. 

172 . across the Atlantic, and a comparison of the analyses of the single samples of 

(Con’d.) the water from the Equatorial current shows that this effect really takes place. 
The easternmost sample contains the minimum, with 34.238 tier 1,000, and the 
two westernmost samples contain the greatest quantity of salt, with 36.084. 
Thus the Equatorial current appears as a continuation of the large West African 
rivers of the Equatorial zone, which dilute the sea-water of the Equatorial region 
with about 8 per cent, of fresh water, and thus counteract the great evaporation. 
While the Equatorial current continues its course along the northeast coast of 
South America, it receives and carries with it the waters of the Paranahyba, the 
Araguai, the Amazon River, the Essequibo, the Orinoco, and numerous smaller 
rivers of the north coast of South America ; but though I have no observations 
from this part of the current, the fact is shown by three observations from the 
sea in the neighborhood of the Danish islands of St. Croix and St. Thomas, 
whose mean salinity is 35.7 per 1,000; while two degrees more to the north the 
mean of two observations is 36.7, which seems to be the normal salinity of the 
West Indian Sea. In the Caribbean Sea, where the Magdalene River gives a 
new quantity of fresh water, the sea contains on the surface, according to one 
observation, 36.104 per 1,000 salt. I have unfortunately no observations from 
the Mexican Gulf, nor from the beginning of the Gulf Stream, where it leaves 
the Mexican Gulf, but to the north of the Bermudas it contains only 35.883 per 
1,000 salt—about the same quantity which the Equatorial current contains 
between 20° and 30° W. longitude. From that place the salt of the Gulf Stream 
increases constantly during its course toward the northeast, viz, 36.105 per 1000, to 
36,283 per 1,000. In 43° 26' N. latitude, and 44° 19' W. longitude, about 16 degrees 
of longitude to the east of the southern mouth of the St. Lawrence, between Nova 
Scotia and Newfoundland, it sinks suddenly to 33.854 per 1,000, and rises from 
thence slowly in its course toward the east to 34.102 and 35.597, until, midway 
between Newfoundland and the southwestern cape of Great Britain, it has risen 
to 35.896 per 1,000—a quantity of salt which diminishes very little in the whole 
North Atlantic Ocean between Scotland and Iceland. During this whole long 
course, from the Bay of Benin to Spitzbergen, this remarkable current shows a 
constant oscillation between the diluting influence of the large rivers and the 
evaporation occasioned by the high temperature of the current. 

Now we shall try to trace its further progress. I have always thought that 
the East Greenland current was of Polar origin, and that it carried the waters 
from the large opening between Spitzbergen and the northernmost coast of 
Greenland into Davis’ Straits, where it turns and mixes its waters with the 
Polar current that comes from the North American Polar Sea through Lancaster 
Sound and the numerous other sounds that connect Baffin’s Bay with the Amer¬ 
ican Polar Sea; but [ never had an opportunity of making comparative analyses 
of the water from that but seldom visited part of the ocean. Colonel Scliaffner 
had the kindness, on his voyage between the eastern part of Iceland and the 
south part of Greenland to take a number of samples, which I have analyzed, 
and the result of which will be found in my fourth region, the East Greenland 
current. Tbe mean of twelve observations of water, taken for the greatest part 
by Colonel Schaffner, (three by Captain Gram,) is 35.278 per 1,000 salt, where 
one analysis of water, taken in the ice-pack, is left out, being no fair sample of 
sea-water from that region. In comparing this mean number with that of the 
North Atlantic Ocean, (35.391,) there will hardly be found any difference in the 


32B 


quantity of salt the two contain; while there is a gre.at difference between these 172-73. 
and the real Polar current of Baffin’s Bay, which is 33.281 per 1,000, or of the 
Patagonian Polar current, (33.9GG.) I think we may infer from this fact that 
the East Greenland current is a returning branch of the Gulf Stream, and that 
the east coast of Greenland proportionally gives very few icebergs and very little 
glacial water to the sea. 

For comparison’s sake I shall mention here that the sea, about midway 
between Norway and Spitzbergen, contains 35.222 per 1,000. I found the water 
taken on the south side of that island to contain 35.41G per 1,000, while that on 
the north side of Spitzbergen contained 33.623 per 1,000. The last-mentioned 
sample seems to be real Polar water, while all the water that flows between Nor- 
way, Spitzbergen, Iceland, and the east coast of Greenland partakes of the 
nature of the Gulf Stream. 

Besides the reasons just mentioned for considering the East Greenland cur¬ 
rent to be a returning branch of the Gulf Stream—reasons which are deduced 
from the quantity of salt which the water contains—there are other reasons 
which lead to the same result. It is well known that the Gulf Stream brings 
tropical fruits from America to the coast of Norway, and it has once brought a 
river-vessel loaded with mahogany to the coast of the Faroe Islands. It is like¬ 
wise known that similar fruits to those which are found on the Norwegian shores 
are carried by the sea to the coast of Iceland, and principally to the north and 
east coasts, where they only could get if the Gulf Stream turns between Spitz¬ 
bergen and Iceland, and thus runs between Iceland and Greenland toward the 
southwest. It would be difficult to explain how a Polar current could bring 
tropical fruit to the north coast of Iceland. 

On the west coast of Greenland the southeasterly wind brings in winter a 
mild temperature, and this fact is so generally known in the Danish colonies of 
Greenland that many of the colonists are convinced that there are volcanoes in 
the interior of that snow-clad land. The temperature which this current, that 
in winter and spring is full of drifting ice (not icebergs,) communicates, can, of 
course, not be above freezing-point, but that temperature is mild when the gen¬ 
eral temperature in winter is 8°, 10°, or 12° B. below the freezing-point. All 
these facts together leave hardly any doubt in my mind that it is the Gulf 
Stream which runs along the east coast of Greenland, and at last, in Davis’ 
Straits, mixes its waters with the Polar current from Baffin’s Bay. In its course 
toward the south it meets the main part of the Gulf Stream at Newfoundland, 
where it partly mixes with it to commence its circulation anew, partly dives 
under it, and runs as a ground-stream as far as the Equator. In a similar way 
the south branch of the Gulf Stream, which goes parallel to the western shores 
of South Europe and North Africa, joins the Equatorial current at its beginning 
in the Bay of Benin, and begins also its circulation anew. 

[After discussing the “Chemical Decomposition in Sea Water,” the author closes the paper 
with a tabular statement of all the analyses made by him and all others which have come to his 
knowledge. An abstract from these tables, embracing all the analyses of water obtained within 
or near the limits of the Gulf Stream, will be found on page 77, et seq., of this volume.— Hydro¬ 
graphic Office.] 

173 Besides other places, pp. 221, 241, &c. [Pp. 313 and 322 of this volume*] 173* 


324 


, 174 Besides other places, pp. 230 to 233. [Compare p. 310 of this volume.] 

175 Index map of Major Kennell’s charts of currents in the Atlantic Ocean. 
(Rennell’s Currents of the Atlantic Ocean. London, 1832.) 

176 Berglmus’s Physikalischer Atlas, 2d part, Hydrography, No. 3. 

177 A. G. Findlay, Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean, with the Winds, Cur¬ 
rents, and other Phenomena; 4 sheets. London, 1858. 


irs. 178 Beeher, Bottle Chart of the Atlantic Ocean, 1843. (Nautical Magazine, 

1843, p. 181.) 

179 . 179 Nautical Magazine, 1843, pp. 321, et seq. 

iso. 180 Compare the interesting treatise of James Croll, “On Ocean Currents,” 

published in the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and 
Journal of Science, fourth series, February, 1870. 

[The part referred to is the followingH ydrographic Office.] 

Part 1. Ocean Currents in relation to the Distribution of Heat over the Globe . 

The Absolute Heating Power of Ocean Currents. 

There is perhaps no physical agent concerned in the distribution of heat 
over the surface of the globe whose influence has been so much underrated as 
that of ocean-currents. This is no doubt owing to the fact that, although a con¬ 
siderable amount of attention has been bestowed in ascertaining the surface- 
temperature, direction, and general influence of ocean-currents, still little or 
nothing has been done in the way of determining the absolute amount of heat 
or of cold conveyed by them, or the absolute increase or decrease of temperature, 
as the case may be, which must result from the heat or cold conveyed. 

The modern method of determining the amount of lieat-effects in ab'solu-te 
measure is, no doubt, destined to cast new light on all questioDS connected with 
climate, as it has done and is still doing in every department of physics where 
energy, under the form of heat, is the phenomenon under consideration. But 
this method has scarcely been attempted yet in questions of meteorology; and 
owing to the complicated nature of the phenomena with which the meteorologist 
has generally to deal, its application will very often be found practically impos¬ 
sible. Nevertheless it is particularly suitable to all questions regarding the 
direct thermal effects of currents, whatever the nature of those currents may 
happen to be. 

In the application of the method to an ocean-current, the two most import¬ 
ant elements which we require as data are the volume of the stream and its 
mean temperature. But although we know something of the temperature of 
most of the great currents of the ocean, yet, with the exception of the Gulf 
Stream, little is known regarding the volume of any of them. 


325 


j • -« more* 

Extensive and accurate observations liave been made on the breadth, depth, iso. 
and temperature of the Gulf Stream by the United States Coast Survey. In the (Con’d.) 
memoirs and charts of the survey, cross sections of the stream at various places 
are given, showing its breadth and depth at those places, and also the temper¬ 
ature of the water from the surface downward to the bottom. We are thus 
enabled to determine pretty correctly the mean temperature of the stream. And 
knowing its mean velocity at any given section, we have likewise a means of 
determining the number of cubic feet of water passing through the section in a 
given time. But although we can obtain, with tolerable accuracy, the mean 
temperature, unfortunately observations regarding the velocity of the water at 
all depths have not been made at any particular section. Consequently we have 
no means of estimating, so accurately as we should have wished, the volume of 
the current. However, as we know the surface-velocity of the water at places 
where some of the sections were taken, we are thus enabled to make at least a 
rough estimate of the volume of the stream. 

From an examination of the published sections, some years ago, I came to 
the conclusion that the total quantity of water conveyed by the stream is prob¬ 
ably equal to that of a stream 50 miles broad and 1,000 feet deep, flowing at the 
rate of tour miles an hour, and that the- mean temperature of the entire mass of 
moving water is not under 65° at the moment of leaving the Gulf. I think we 
are warranted to conclude that the stream, before it returns from its northern 
journey, is, on an average, cooled down to at least 40°; consequently it loses 25° 
of heat. Each cubic foot of water, therefore, in this case, carries from the tropics 
for distribution upward of 1,500 units of heat, or 1,158,000 foot-pounds. Accord¬ 
ing to the above estimate of the size and velocity of the stream, 5,575,680,000,000 
cubic feet of water are conveyed from the Gulf per hour, or 133,816,320,000,000 
cubic feet daily. Consequently the total quantity of heat transferred from the 
Equatorial regions per day by the stream amounts to 154,959,300,000,000,000,000 
foot-pounds. This estimate of the volume of the stream is considerably less than 
that given both by Captain Maury and by Sir John Herschel. Captain Maury 
considers the Gulf Stream equal to a stream 32 miles broad and 1,200 feet deep, 
flowing at the rate of five knots an hour. (Physical Geography of the Sea, § 24, 

6 th edition.) This gives 6,165,700,000,000 cubic feet per hour as the quantity of 
water conveyed by this stream. Sir John Herschel’s estimate is still greater, 
lie considers it equal to a stream 30 miles broad and 2,200 feet deep, flowing at 
the rate of four miles an hour. (Physical Geography, § 54.) This makes the 
quantity 7,359,900,000,000 cubic feet per hour. 

From observations made by Sir John Herschel and by Mr. Pouillet on the 
direct heat of the sun, it is found that, were no heat absorbed by the atmosphere, 
about 83 foot-pounds per second would fall upon a square foot of surface placed 
at right angles to the sun’s rays. Mr. Meecli estimates that the quantity of 
heat cut off by the atmosphere is equal to about 22 per cent, of the tdtal amount 
received from the sun. Mr. Pouillet estimates the loss at 24 per cent. Taking 
the former estimate, 64.74 foot-pounds per second will therefore be the quantity 
of heat falling on a square foot of the earth’s surface when the sun is in the 
zenith. And were the sun to remain stationary in the zenith for twelve hours, 
2,796,768 foot-pounds would fall upon the surface. 

It can be shown that the total amount of heat received upon a unit surface 
on the Equator, during the twelve hours from sunrise to sunset, at the time of 


326 


Note. 

iso. tlie equinoxes, is to the total amount which would he received upon that surface 

(Con’d.) were the sun to remain in the zenith during those twelve hours, as the diameter 
of a circle to half its circumference, or as 1 to 1.5708. It follows, therefore, that 
a square foot of surface on the Equator receives from the sun, at the time of the 
equinoxes, 1,780.474 foot-pounds daily, and a square mile 49,036,750,000,000 foot¬ 
pounds daily. But this amounts to only - 3 x 21 sTo P ai> t- the quantity of heat 
daily conveyed from the tropics by the Gulf Stream. In other words, the Gulf 
Stream conveys as much heat as is received from the sun by 3,121,870 square 
miles at the Equator. The amount thus conveyed is equal to all the heat which 
falls upon the globe within 03 miles on each side of the Equator. According to 
calculations made by Mr. Meech, the annual quantity of heat received by a unit 
surface on the frigid zone, taking the mean of the whole zone, is of that 
received at the Equator 5 consequently, the quantity of beat conveyed by the 
Gulf Stream in one year is equal to the heat which falls, on an average, on 
6,873,800 square miles of the Arctic regions. The frigid zone, or Arctic regions, 
contain 8,130,000 square miles. There is actually, therefore, nearly as much 
heat transferred from the tropical regions by the Gulf Stream as is received from 
the sun by the entire Arctic regions, the quantity conveyed by the stream to 
that received from the sun by those regions being as 15 to 18. 

But we have been assuming, in our calculations, that the percentage of 
heat absorbed by the atmosphere is no greater in the Polar regions than it is at 
the Equator, which is not the case. If we make due allowance for the extra 
amount absorbed in Polar regions, in consequence of the obliqueness of the sun’s 
rays, the total quantity of heat conveyed by the Gulf Stream will probably 
nearly equal the amount received from the sun by the entire Arctic regions. 

If we compare the quantity of heat conveyed by the Gulf Stream with that 
conveyed by means of aerial currents, the result is equally startling. The density 
of air to that of water is as 1 to 770, and its specific heat to that of water is as 1 to 
4.2; consequently, the same amount of heat that would raise 1 cubic foot of water 
1° would raise 770 cubic feet of air 4°.2, or 3,234 cubic feet 1°. The quantity of 
heat conveyed by the Gulf Stream is, therefore, equal to that which would be 
conveyed by a current of air 3,234 times the volume of the Gulf Stream, at the 
same temperature and moving with the same velocity. Taking, as before, the 
wi<Jth of the stream at 50 miles, and its depth at 1,000 feet, and its velocity at 
4 miles an hour, it follows that, in order to convey an equal amount of heat from 
the tropics by means of an aerial current, it would be necessary to have a cur¬ 
rent about 1 \ miles deep, and at the temperature of 05°, blowing at the rate of 
four miles an hour from every part of the Equator over the northern hemisphere 
toward the Pole. If its velocity were equal to that of a good sailing breeze, 
which Sir John Herschel states to be about twenty-one miles an hour, the cur¬ 
rent would require to be about 1,200 feet deep. A greater quantity of heat is 
probably conveyed by the Gulf Stream alone from the tropical to the temperate 
and arctic regions than by all the aerial currents that flow from the Equator. 

We are apt, on the other hand, to overestima te the amount of the heat con¬ 
veyed from tropical regions to us by means of aerial currents. The only cur¬ 
rents which flow from the Equatorial regions are the upper currents, or anti¬ 
trades as they are called; but it is not possible that much heat can be con¬ 
veyed directly by them. The upper currents of the trade-winds, even at the 
Equator, are nowhere below the snow-line; they must therefore lie in a 



327 


Note. 

region actually below the freezing point. In fact, if those currents were warm, iso. 
they would elevate the snow-line above themselves. The heated air, rising off (Con’d.) 
the hot, burning ground at the Equator, after ascending a few miles, becomes 
exposed to the intense cold of the upper regions of the atmosphere; it then very 
soon loses all its heat, and returns from the Equator much colder than it w 7 ent 
thither. It is impossible that we can receive any heat directly from the Equa¬ 
torial regions by means of aerial currents. It is perfectly true that the south¬ 
west wind, to which we ow e so much of our warmth in this country, is a contin¬ 
uation of the anti-trade; but the heat which this wind brings to us is not derived 
from the Equatorial regions. This will appear evident if we but reflect that, 
before the upper current descends to the snow-line, after leaving the Equator, it 
must traverse a space of at least 2,000 miles; and to perform this long journey 
several days w ill be required. During all this time the air is in a region below 
the freezing-point; and it is perfectly obvious that, by the time it begins to 
descend, it must have acquired the temperature of the region in w 7 hich it has 
been traveling. 

If such be the case, it is evident that a wind w 7 hose temperature is below r 
32° could never warm a country such as ours, where the temperature does not 
fall below 38° or 39°. The heat of our southwest winds is derived, not directly 
from the Equator, but from the warm water of the Atlantic—in fact, from the Gulf 
Stream. The upper current acquires its heat after it descends to the earth. There 
is one way, however, whereby heat is indirectly conveyed from the Equator by the 
anti-trades; that is, in the form of aqueous vapor. In the formation of one 
pound of water from aqueous vapor, as Professor Tyndall strikingly remarks, a 
quantity of heat is given out sufficient to melt five pounds of cast-iron. It must, 
however, be borne in mind that the greater part of the moisture of the south¬ 
west and w r est w inds is derived from the ocean in temperate regions. The upper 
current receives the greater part of its moisture after it descends to the earth, 
while the moisture received at the Equator is, in great part, condensed and falls 
as rain in those regions. 

These as w ell as many other considerations which might be stated lead to 
the conclusion*that, in order to raise the mean temperature of the whole earth, 
water should be placed along the Equator, and not land, as is generally believed. 

For, if land is placed at the Equator, the possibility of conveying the sun’s heat 
from the Equatorial region by means of ocean-currents is prevented. The trans¬ 
ference of heat could then be effected only by means of the upper currents of 
the trades; for the heat conveyed by conduction along the solid crust, if any, 
can have no sensible effect on climate. But these currents, as we have just seen, 
are ill adapted for conveying heat. 

The surface of the ground at the Equator becomes intensely heated by the 
sun’s rays. This causes it to radiate off its heat more rapidly into space than a 
surface of w T ater heated under the same conditions. Again, the air in contact 
w ith the hot ground becomes also more rapidly heated than in contact with 
water, and consequently the ascending current of air carries off a greater amount 
of heat. But were the heat thus carried away transferred by means of the upper 
currents to high latitudes, and there employed to warm the earth, then it might, 
to a considerable extent, compensate for the absence of ocean-currents, and, in 
this case, land at the Equator might be* nearly as well adapted as water for rais¬ 
ing the temperature of the whole earth. But such is not the case; for the heat 


328 


Note. 

iso. carried up by the ascending current at the Equator is not employed in warming 
(06n’d.) the earth, but is thrown off into the cold stellar space above. This ascending cur¬ 
rent, instead of being employed in warming the globe, is, in reality, one of the most 
effectual means that the earth has of getting quit of the heat received from the 
sun, and of thus maintaining a much lower temperature than it would otherwise 
possess. It is in the Equatorial regions that the earth loses as well as gains the 
greater part of its heat; so that, of all places, here ought to be placed the sub¬ 
stance best adapted for preventing the dissipation of the earth’s heat into space, 
in order to raise the general temperature of the earth. Water, of all substances 
in nature, seems to possess this quality to the greatest extent; and besides, it is 
a fluid, and therefore adapted, by means of currents, to carry the heat which is 
received from the sun to every region of the globe. 

These results show (although they have reference to only* one stream) that 
the general influence of ocean-currents on the distribution of heat over the sur¬ 
face of the globe must be very great. If the quantity of heat transferred from 
the Equatorial regions by the Gulf Stream alone is nearly equal to all the heat 
received from the sun by the Arctic regions, then how enormous must be the 
quantity conveyed from the Equatorial regions by all the ocean-currents put 
together! 

Influence of the Gulf Stream on the Climate of Europe .—In a paper read 
before the British Association at Exeter, Mr. A. G. Findlay objects to the con¬ 
clusions at which I have arrived in former papers on the subject, on these 
grounds, viz, first, that I have doubled the actual volume of the stream; second, 
that I have not taken into account the great length of time that the water 
requires in order to circulate, and the interference that it has to encounter in 
its passage. 

Although I feel satisfied that the actual quantity of water conveyed from 
the Gulf of Mexico is as great, if not greater, than what I have estimated it to 
be, yet the influence of the stream on climate, as w r e shall presently see, is so 
enormous that, for our present purposes, it matters little whether we adopt Mr. 
Findlay’s estimate or mine as the correct one. 

In this case I shall adopt Mr. Findlay’s estimate, and take the volume of 
the stream at one-half what I have concluded it to be. The quantity of heat 
conveyed would still be equal to all the heat received from the sun within 31J 
miles on each side of the Equator, or equal to nearly one-half of the entire heat 
received by the Arctic regions. 

I may here briefly consider the second objection, as it will afford an oppor¬ 
tunity of referring to some important considerations bearing on the mode by 
which the heat of ocean-currents is distributed over the land. 

The objection is, that a stream so comparatively small as the Gulf Stream, 
after spreading out over such a large area of the Atlantic, and moving so slowly 
across to the shores of Europe, losing heat all the way, would not be able to 
produce any very sensible influence on the climate of Europe. 

I am unable to perceive the force of this objection. Why, the very effi¬ 
ciency of the stream as a heating agent necessarily depends upon the-slowness 
of its motion. Did the Gulf Stream move as rapidly along its whole course as it 
does in the Straits of Florida, it could produce no sensible effect on the climate 
of Europe. It does not require much consideration to perceive this. (1.) If the 
stream during its course continued narrow, deep, and rapid, it would have little 


329 


opportunity of losing its beat, and the water would carry back to the tropics the iso. 
heat which it ought to have given off in the temperate and polar regions. (2.) (Con’d.) 
Ihe Gulf Stream does not heat the shores of Europe by direct radiation. Our 
island, lor example, is not heated by radiation from a stream of warm water 
flowing along its shores. The Gulf Stream heats our island indirectly by heating 
the winds which blow over it to our shores. 

The anti-trades, or upper return-currents, as we have seen, bring no heat 
from the tropical regions. After traversing some 2,000 miles in a region of 
extreme cold, they descend on the Atlantic as a cold current, and there absorb 
the heat and moisture which they carry to northeastern Europe. Those aerial 
currents derive their heat from the Gulf Stream, or, if it is preferred, from the 
warm water poured into the Atlantic by the Gulf Stream. 

How, then, are these winds heated by the warm water? The air is heated 
in two ways, viz, by direct radiation from the water, and by contact with the 
water. Now, if the Gulf Stream continued a narrow and deep current during 
its entire course similar to what it is at the Straits of Florida, it could have little 
or no opportunity of communicating its heat to the air either by radiation or by 
contact. If the stream was only about 40 or 50 miles in breadth, the aerial par¬ 
ticles, in their passage across it, would not be in contact with the warm water 
more than an hour or two. Also the number of the particles in contact with 
the water, owing to the narrowness of the stream, would be small, and there 
would therefore be little opportunity for the air becoming heated by contact. 

The same also holds true in regard to radiation. The more we widen the 
stream and increase its area, the more we increase its radiating surface; and the 
greater the radiating surface, the greater is the quantity of heat thrown off. But 
this is not all; the number of aerial particles heated by radiation increases in 
proportion to the area of the radiating surface; consequently the wider the area 
over which the waters of the Gulf Stream are spread, the more effectual will the 
stream be as a heating-agent. And, again, in order that a very wide area of 
the Atlantic may be covered with the warm waters of the stream, slowness of 
motion is essential. 

Mr. Findlay says that fully one-half of the Gulf Stream passes eastward and 
southward from the banks of Newfoundland, and supposes that it is only the 
northern portion of the current that can be effectual in raising the temperature 
of Europe. But it appears to me that it is to this southeastern portion of the 
current, and not to the northern, that we, in this country, are chiefly indebted 
for our heat. The southwest winds, to which we owe our heat, derive their tem¬ 
perature from this southeastern portion which flows away in the direction of the 
Azores. The southwest winds which blow over the northern portion of the cur¬ 
rent, which flows past our islands up into the Arctic seas, cannot possibly cross 
this country, but will go to heat Norway and Northern Europe. The northern 
portion of the stream, no doubt, protects us from the ice of Greenland by warm¬ 
ing the northwest winds which come to us from that cold region. 

Mr. Buchan, Secretary of the Scottish Meteorological Society, has shown 
that in a large tract of the Atlantic, between latitudes 20° and 40° N., the mean 
pressure of the atmosphere is greater than in any other place on the globe. To 
the west of Madeira, between longitude 10° and 40° W., the mean annual pres¬ 
sure amounts to 30.2 inches; while, between Iceland and Spitsbergen, it is only 
29.0, a lower mean pressure than is found in any other place on the northern 
42 


330 


tfote. 

iso. hemisphere. There must consequently, he concludes, be a general tendency in 

(Con’d.) the a j r to flow from the former to the latter place along the earth’s surface. But 
the air, in moving from the lower to the higher latitudes, tends to take a north¬ 
easterly direction, and in this case will pass over our island in its course. But 
it so happens that this region of high pressure is situated in the very path of the 
southeastern branch of the Gulf Stream; consequently the winds blowing from 
this region of maximum pressure will carry directly to Britain the heat of the 
Gulf Stream. 

It is essential to the heating of our island, as well as the southern portion 
of Europe, that a very large proportion of the waters of the Gulf Stream should 
spread over the surface of the Atlantic, and never pass up into the Arctic 
regions, as we shall presently see. 

But even according to Mr. Findlay’s own theory, it is to the southwest wind, 
heated by the warm waters of the Atlantic, that we are indebted for the high 
temperature of our climate. But he seems to be under the impression that the 
Atlantic would be able to supply the necessary heat independently of the Gulf 
Stream. This, I presume, is the fundamental error of all those who doubt the 
efficiency of the stream. It is a mistake, however, into which one is very apt to 
fall who does not adopt the more rigid method of determining heat-results in 
absolute measure. When we apply this method we find that the Atlantic, with¬ 
out the aid of such a current as the Gulf Stream, would be wholly unable to 
supply the necessary amount of heat to the southwest winds. 

The quantity of heat conveyed by the Gulf Stream, as we have seen, is equal 
to all the heat received from the sun by 3,121,870 square miles at the Equator. 
Mr. Findlay, however, as has been stated, thinks that I have doubled the actual 
volume of the stream. Assuming that I have done so, the amount of heat car¬ 
ried by the stream would still be equal to all the heat received from the sun by 
1,560,935 square miles at the Equator. The mean annual quantity of heat 
received from the sun by the temperate regions x>er unit-surface is to that 
received by the Equator as 9.08 to 12 $ consequently the quantity of heat con¬ 
veyed by the stream, taking Mr. Findlay’s estimate of its volume, is equal to all 
the heat received from the sun by 2,062,960 square miles of the temperate regions. 
The total area of the Atlantic, from the latitude of the Straits of Florida, 200 
miles north of the tropic of Cancer, up to the Arctic circle, including also the 
German Ocean, is about 8,500,000 square miles. In this case the quantity of 
heat carried by the Gulf Stream into the Atlantic through the Straits of Florida, 
to that received by this entire area from the sun, is as 1 to 4.12, or, in round 
numbers, as 1 to 4. It therefore follows that one-fifth of all the heat possessed 
by the waters of the Atlantic over that area, even supposing that they absorb 
every ray that falls upon them, is derived from the Gulf Stream. Would those 
who call in question the efficiency of the Gulf Stream be willing to admit that a 
decrease of one-fourth in the total .amount of heat received from the sun, over 
the entire area of the Atlantic from within 200 miles of the tropical zone up to 
the Arctic regions, would not sensibly affect the climate of Northern'Europe? 
If they would not willingly admit this, why then contend that the Gulf Stream 
does not affect climate? for the stoppage of the Gulf Stream, taking it at Mr. 
Findlay’s estimate, would deprive the Atlantic of 77,479,650,000,000,000,000 foot¬ 
pounds of energy in the form of heat per day—a quantity equal to one-fourth of 
all the heat received from the sun by that area. 


331 


How much, then, of the temperature of the southwest winds, derived from 
the water of the Atlantic, is due to the Gulf Stream ? 

Were the sun extinguished, the temperature over the whole earth would 
sink to nearly that of stellar space, which, according to the investigations of Sir 
John Herschel and of Mr. Pouillet, is not above —239° F. Were the earth pos¬ 
sessed of no atmosphere, the temperature of its surface would sink to exactly 
that of space, or to that indicated by a thermometer exposed to no other heat- 
induence than that of radiation from the stars. But the presence of the atmos¬ 
pheric envelope would slightly modify the conditions of things; for the heat from 
the stars (which of course constitutes what is called the temperature of space) 
would, like the sun’s heat, pass-more freely through the atmosphere than the 
heat radiated back from the earth, and there would, in consequence of this, be 
an accumulation of heat on the earth’s surface. The temperature would there¬ 
fore stand a little higher than that of space ; or, in other words, it would stand a 
little higher than it would otherwise do were the earth exposed in space to the 
direct radiation of the stars without the atmospheric envelope. But, for reasons 
which will presently be stated, we may, in the mean time, till further light is cast 
upon this matter, take —239° F. as probably not far from what would be the 
temperature of the earth’s surface were the sun extinguished. 

Suppose, now, that we take the mean annual temperature of the Atlantic 
at say 56°. # Then 239 0 -f56°=295 0 represents the number of degrees of rise due 
to the heat which it receives. In other words, it takes all the heat that the 
Atlantic receives to maintain its temperature 295° above the temperature of 
space. Stop the Gulf Stream, and the Atlantic would be deprived of one-fifth 
of the heat which it possesses. Then, if it takes five parts of heat to maintain a 
temperature of 295° above that of space, the four parts which would remain 
after the stream was stopped would only be able to maintain a temperature of 
four-fifths of 295°, or 236° above that of space; the stoppage of the Gulf Stream 
would therefore deprive the Atlantic of an amount of heat which would be suffi¬ 
cient to maintain its temperature 59° above what it would otherwise be, did it 
depend alone upon the heat received directly from the sun. It does not, of 
course, follow that the Gulf Stream actually maintains the temperature 59° 
above what it would otherwise be, were there no ocean-currents; because the 
actual heating-effect of the stream is neutralized to a very considerable extent 
by cold currents from the Arctic regions. But 59° of rise represents its actual 
power; consequently 59°, minus the lowering effect of the cold currents, repre¬ 
sents the actual rise. What the rise may amount to at any particular place 
must be determined by other means. 

This method of calculating how much the temperature of the earth’s surface 
would rise or fall from an increase or a decrease in the absolute amount of heat 
received is that adopted by Sir John Herschel in his “Outlines of Astronomy,” 
§ 369 a . About three years ago, in an article in the “Header,” I endeavored to 
show that this method is not rigidly correct. It lias been shown from the exper¬ 
iments of Dulong and Petit, Dr. Balfour Stewart, Professor Draper, and others, 
that the rate at which a body radiates its heat off into space is not directly pro¬ 
portionate to its absolute temperature. The rate at which a body loses its heat, 

* The mean temperature of the Atlantic between the Tropics and the Arctic Circle, according 
to Admiral Fitz hoy’s chart, is about 60°. But he assigns far too high a temperature for latitudes 
above 50° ; it is probable that 56° is not far from the truth. 


Note 

180 

(Con’d. 




332 


Note. 

iso. as its temperature rises, increases more rapidly than the temperature. Asa 

(Con’d.) pody rises in temperature, the rate at which it radiates off its heat increases ; 
but the rate of this increase is not uniform, but increases with the temperature. 
Consequently the temperature is not lowered in proportion to the decrease of 
the sun’s heat. But at the comparatively low temperature with which we have 
at present to deal, the error resulting from assuming the decrease of temperature 
to be proportionate to the decrease of heat would not be great. 

It may be observed, however, that the experiments referred to were made 
on solids; but, from certain results arrived at by Dr. Balfour Stewart, it would 
seem that the radiation of a material particle may be proportionate to its abso¬ 
lute temperature. This physicist found that the radiation of a thick plate of 
glass increases more rapidly than that of a thin plate as the temperature rises, 
and that, if we go on continually diminishing the thickness of the plate whose 
radiation at different temperatures we are ascertaining, we find that as it grows 
thinner and thinner the rate at which it radiates off its heat as its tempera¬ 
ture rises becomes less and less. In other words, as the plate grows thinner 
and thinner, its rate of radiation becomes more and more proportionate to its 
absolute temperature. And we can hardly resist the conviction that if we could 
possibly go on diminishing the thickness of the plate till we reached a film so 
thin as to embrace but only one particle in its thickness, its rate of radiation 
would be proportionate to its temperature. 

Dr. Balfour Stewart has very ingeniously suggested the probable reason 
why the rate of radiation of thick plates increases with rise of temperature more 
rapidly than that of thin. It is this: All substances are more diathermanous 
for heat of high temperatures than for heat of low temperatures. When a body 
is at a low temperature we may suppose that only the exterior rows of particles 
supply the radiation, the heat from the interior particles being all stopped by 
the exterior ones, the substance being very opaque for heat of low temperature; 
while at a high temperature we may imagine that part of the heat from the 
interior particles is allowed to pass, thereby swelling the total radiation. But 
as the plate becomes thinner and thinner the obstructions to interior radiation 
become less and less, and as these obstructions are greater for radiation at low 
temperatures than for radiation at high temperatures, it necessarily follows that 
by reducing the thickness of the plate we assist radiation at low temperatures 
more than we do at high. 

In a gas, where each particle may be assumed to radiate by itself, and 
where the particles stand at a considerable distance from one another, the 
obstruction to interior radiation must be far less than in a solid. In this case the 
rate at which a gas radiates off its heat as its temperature rises must increase 
more slowly than that of a solid substance. In other words, its rate of radiation 
must correspond more nearly to its absolute temperature than that of a solid. 
If this be the case, a reduction in the amount of heat received from the sun, 
owing to an increase of his distance, should tend to produce a greater lowering 
effect on the temperature of the air than it does on the temperature of the solid 
ground. But as the temperature of our climate is determined by the tempera¬ 
ture of the air, it must follow that the error of assuming that the decrease of 
temperature would be proportionate to the decrease in the intensity of the sun’s 
heat may not be great. 

It may be noticed here, although it does not bear directly on this point, 
that although the air in a room, for example, or at the earth’s surface, is princi- 


333 


pally cooled by convection rather than by radiation, it is by radiation alone that iso. 
the eaith s atmosphere parts with its heat to stellar space; and this is the chief ( Con ’ d -) 
matter with which we are at present concerned. Air, like all other gases, is a 
bad radiator; and this tends to protect it from being cooled to such an extent 
as it would otherwise be, were it a good radiator like solids. True, it is also a 
bad absorber; but as it is cooled by radiation into space, and heated, not alto¬ 
gether by absorption, but to a very large extent by convection, it on the whole 
gains its heat more easily than it loses it, and consequently must stand at a 
higher temperature than it would do were it heated alone by absorption. 

But, to return: the error of regarding the decrease of temperature as pro¬ 
portionate to the decrease in the amount of heat received, is probably neutral¬ 
ized by one of an opposite nature, viz, that of taking space at too high a tem¬ 
perature ; for by so doing we make the result too small. 

We know that absolute zero is at least 493° below the melting-point of ice. 

This is 222° below that of space. Consequently, if the heat derived from the 
stars is able to maintain a temperature of —239°, or 222° of absolute tempera¬ 
ture, then nearly as much heat is derived from the stars as from the sun. But, 
if so, why do the stars give so much heat and so very little light ? If the radia¬ 
tion from the stars could maintain a thermometer 222° above absolute zero, then 
space must be far more transparent to heat-rays than to light-rays, or else the 
stars give out a great amount of heat, but very little light, neither of which 
suppositions is probably true. The probability is, I venture to presume, that 
the temperature of space is not very much above absolute zero. At the time 
when these investigations into the probable temperature of space were made, at 
least as regards that by Pouillet, the modern science of heat had no existence, 
and little or nothing was then known with certainty regarding absolute zero. 

In this case the whole matter would require to be reconsidered. The result of 
such an investigation, in all probability, would be to assign a lower temperature 
to stellar space than —239°. 

Taking all these various considerations into account, it is probable that if 
we adopt —239° as the temperature of space, we shall not be far from the truth in 
assuming that the absolute temperature of a place above that of space is pro¬ 
portionate to the amount of heat received from the sun. We may, therefore, in 
this case conclude that 59° of rise is probably not very far from the truth as 
representing the influence of the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream, instead of 
producing little or no effect, produces an effect far greater than is generally 
supposed. 

Our island has a mean annual temperature of about 12° above the normal 
due to its latitude. This excess of temperature has been justly attributed to the 
influence of the Gulf Stream. But it is singular how this excess should have 
been taken as the measure of the rise resulting from the influence of the stream. 

These figures only represent the number of degrees that the mean normal tem¬ 
perature of our island stands above what is called the normal temperature of 
the latitude. 

The way Professor Dove constructed his tables of normal temperature was 
as follows: He took the temperature of thirty-six equidistant points on every 
ten degrees of latitude. The mean temperature of . these thirty-six points he 
calls, in each case, the normal temperature of the parallel. The excess above 
the normal merely represents how much the stream raises our temperature above 


334 


Note. 

i so. the mean of all places on the same latitude, hut it affords us no information regard- 

(Con’d.) ing the absolute rise produced. lu the Pacific, as well as in the Atlantic, there 
are immense masses of water flowing from the tropical to the temperate regions. 
Now, unless we know how much of the normal temperature of a latitude is due 
to ocean-currents, and how much to the direct heat of the sun, we could not 
possibly, from Professor Dove’s tables, form the most distant conjecture as to 
how much of our temperature is derived from the Gulf Stream. The overlook¬ 
ing of this fact has led to a general misconception regarding the positive influ 
ence of the Gulf Stream on temperature. The 12° marked in tables of normal 
temperature do not represent the absolute effect of the stream, but merely how 
much the stream raises the temperature of our country above the mean of all 
places on the same latitude. Other places have their temperature raised by 
ocean-currents as well as this country; only the Gulf Stream produces a rise of 
several degrees over and above that produced by other streams in the same 
latitude. 

At present there is a difference merely of 80° between the mean temperature 
of the Equator and the Poles; but were each part of the globe’s surface to 
depend alone upon the direct heat which it receives from the sun, there ought, 
according to theory, to be a difference of more than 200°. The annual quantity 
of heat received at the Equator to that received at the Poles, supposing the pro¬ 
portionate quantity absorbed by the atmosphere to be the same in both cases, is 
as 12 to 4.98, or say as 12 to 5. Consequently, if the temperatures of the Equa¬ 
tor and the Poles be taken as proportionate to the absolute amount of heat 
received from the sun, then the temperature of the Equator above that of space 
must be to that of the Poles above that of space as 12 to 5. What ought, there¬ 
fore, to be the temperatures of the Equator and the Poles, did each place depend 
solely upon the heat which it received directly from the sun? Were all ocean 
and aerial currents stopped, so that there could be no transference of heat from 
one part of the earth’s surface to the other, what ought to be the temperatures 
of the Equator and the Poles? We can, at least, arrive at a rough estimate on 
this point. If we diminish the quantity of warm water conveyed from the equa¬ 
torial regions to the temperate and arctic regions, the temperature of the Equa¬ 
tor will begin to rise and the temperature of the Poles to sink. It is probable, 
however, that this process would affect the temperature of the Poles more than 
it would do that of the Equator; for as the warm water flows from the Equator to 
the Poles, the area over which it is spread becomes less and less. But as the 
water from the Tropics has to raise the temperature of the temperate regions as 
well as the polar, the difference of effect at the Equator and Poles might not, on 
that account, be so very great. Let us take a rough estimate. Say that, as the 
temperature of the Equator rises one degree, the temperature of the Poles sinks 
one degree and a half. The mean annual temperature of the globe is about 
58°. The mean temperature of the Equator is 80°, and that of the Poles 0°. 
Let ocean and aerial currents now begin to cease, the temperature of the Equa¬ 
tor begins to rise and the temperature of the Poles to sink. For every degree 
that the Equator rises the Poles sink 1 J°; and when the currents are all stopped 
and each place dependent alone upon the direct rays of the sun, the mean annual 
temperature of the Equator, above that of space, will be to that of the Poles, 
above that of space, as 12 to 5. When this proportion is reached, the Equator 
will be 374° above that of space, and the Poles 15G°; for 374 is to 15G as 12 is 


335 


Xottf. 

to 5. The temperature of space we have seen to he—239°; consequently the iso. 
temperature of the Equator will, in this case, he 135°, reckoned from the zero of < Con ’ d > 
the Fahrenheit thermometer, and the Poles 83° helow zero. The Equator would 
therefore he 55° warmer than at present, and the poles 83° colder. The differ¬ 
ence between the temperature of the Equator and the Poles will, in this case, 
amount to 218°. 

Now, if we take into account the quantity of positive energy in the form 
of heat carried by warm currents from the Equator to the temperate and polar 
regions, and also the quantity of negative energy (cold) carried by cold cur¬ 
rents from the polar regions to the Equator, we shall find that they are sufficient 
to reduce the difference of temperature between the Poles and the Equator from 
2180 to 80o. 

The quantity of heat received in the latitude of London, for example, to that 
received at the Equator is about as 12 to 8. This, according to theory, should 
produce a difference of about 125°. The temperature of the Equator above that 
of space, as we have seen, would be 374°. Therefore 249° above that of space 
would represent the temperature of the latitude of London. This would give 
10° as its temperature. The stoppage of all ocean and aerial currents would 
thus increase the difference between the Equator and the latitude of London by 
about 85°. The stoppage of ocean-currents would not be nearly so much felt, 
of course, in the latitude of London as at the Equator and the Poles, because, 
as lias been already noticed, in all latitudes midway between the Equator and 
the Poles the two sets of currents, to a considerable extent, compensate each 
other; viz, the warm currents from the Equator raise the temperate, while the 
cold ones from the Poles lower it; but as the warm currents chiefly keep on the 
surface and the cold return-currents are principally under currents, the heating 
effect very greatly exceeds the cooling effect. 

Now, as we have seen, the stoppage of all currents would raise the temper¬ 
ature of the Equator 55°; that is to say, the rise at the Equator alone would 
increase the difference of temperature between the Equator and that of London 
by 55°. But the actual difference, as we have seen, ought to be 85°; conse¬ 
quently the temperature of London would be lowered 30° by the stoppage of 
the currents. For if we raise the temperature of the Equator 55°, and lower the 
temperature of London 30°, we then increase the difference by 85°. The normal 
temperature of the latitude of London being 40°, the stoppage of all ocean and 
aerial currents would thus reduce it to 10°. But the Gulf Stream raises the 
actual mean temperature of London 10° above the normal; consequently 
30°+10°=40° represents the actual rise at London due to the influence of the 
Gulf Stream, over and above all the lowering effects resulting from Arctic cur¬ 
rents: On some parts of the American shores, on the latitude of London, the 
temperature is 10° below the normal. The stoppage of all ocean and aerial cur¬ 
rents would therefore lower the temperature there only 20°. 

It is at the Equator and the Poles that the great system of ocean and aerial 
currents produces its maximum effects. The influence becomes less and less as 
we recede from those places, and between them there is a point where the influ¬ 
ence of the warm currents from the Equator and cold currents from the Poles 
exactly neutralize each other. At this point the stoppage of ocean-currents 
would not sensibly affect temperature. This point, of course, is not situated on 
the same latitude in all meridians, but varies according to the position of the 


336 


Jfote. 

180 . meridian in relation to land and ocean currents, whether cold or hot, and other 
(Con d.) circumstances. A line drawn round the globe through these various points would 
be very irregular. At one place, such as on the western side of the Atlantic, 
where the Arctic current predominates, the neutral line would be deflected 
toward the Equator, while on the eastern side, where warm currents predomi¬ 
nate, the line would be deflected toward the north. It is a difficult problem to 
determine the mean position of this line; it probably lies somewhere not far 
north of the Tropics. 

Influence of the Gulf Stream on the climate of the Arctic Regions .—Does the 
Gulf Stream pass into the Arctic regions ? Are the seas around Spitzbergen 
and North Greenland heated by the warm water of the stream % 

Those who deny this, nevertheless admit the existence of an Arctic current. 
They admit that an immense mass of cold water is continually flowing south 
from the Polar regions around Greenland into the Atlantic. Then, if it is 
. admitted that there is a mass of water flowing across the Arctic circle from 
north to south, it must also be admitted that there is an equal mass flowing 
across from south to north. It is also evident that the water crossing from 
south to north must be warmer than the water crossing from north to south; 
for the temperate regions are warmer than the Arctic, and the ocean in tem¬ 
perate regions warmer than the ocean in the Arctic; consequently the current 
which flows into the Arctic seas, to compensate for the cold Arctic current, 
must be a warmer current. 

Is the Gulf Stream this warm current? Does this compensating warm cur¬ 
rent proceed from the Atlantic, or from the Pacific ? If it proceeds from- the 
Atlantic it is simply the warm water of the Gulf Stream. We may call it the 
warm water of the Atlantic if we choose; but this cannot materially affect the 
question at issue, for the heat which the waters of the Atlantic possess is 
derived, as we have seen, to an enormous extent, from the water brought from 
the Tropics by the Gulf Stream. Then, if we deny that the warm compensating 
current comes from the Atlantic, we must assume that it comes from the Pacific. 
But if the cold current flows from the Arctic regions into the Atlantic, and the 
warm compensating current from the Pacific into the Arctic regions, the highest 
temperature should be found on the Pacific side of the Arctic regions, and not 
on the Atlantic side;'but the reverse is the case. In the Atlantic, for example, 
the 41° isothermal line of mean annual temperature reaches to latitude 05° 30', 
while in the Pacific it nowhere goes beyond latitude 57°. The 27° isothermal of 
mean annual temperature reaches to latitude 75° in the Atlantic, but in the 
Pacific it does not pass beyond G4°. And the 14° isothermal reaches the north 
of Spitzbergen in latitude 80°, whereas on the Pacific side of the Arctic regions 
it does not reach to latitude 72°. 

On no point of the earth’s surface does the mean annual temperature rise 
so high above the normal as in the Northern Atlantic, just at the Arctic circle, 
at a spot believed to be in the middle of the Gulf Stream. This place is no less 
than 22°.5 above the normal, while in the Northern Pacific the temperature 
does not anywhere rise more than 9° above the normal. These facts prove that 
the warm current passes lip the Atlantic into the Arctic regions, and not up the 
Pacific, or at least that the larger amount of warm water must pass into the 
Arctic regions through the Atlantic. In other words the Gulf Stream is the 
warm compensating current. Not only must there be a warm stream, but one 


337 


JVotes. 


ol very Considerable magnitude, in order to compensate for the great amount ofiso- 84 . 
cold water that is constantly flowing from the Arctic regions, and also to main¬ 
tain the temperature of those regions so much above the temperature of space 
as they actually are. 

Ko doubt, when the results of the late dredging-expedition iu the North Sea 
are published, they will cast much additional light on the direction and charac¬ 
ter of the currents forming the northeastern branch of the Gulf Stream. 

The average quantity of heat received by the Arctic regions as a whole per 
unit surface to that received at the equator, as we have already seen, is as 5.45 to 
12 , assuming that the percentage of rays cut oft* by the atmosphere is the same 
at both places. In this case the mean annual temperature of the Arctic regions, 
taken as a whole, would be about —09°, did those regious depend alone for 
their temperature upon the heat received directly from the sun. But the tem¬ 
perature would not even reach to this ; for the percentage of rays cut off by the 
atmosphere in Arctic regions is generally believed to be greater than at the 
Equator, and consequently the actual mean quantity of heat received by the 

Arctic regions will be less than 0 f what is received at the Equator. 

In the article on “Climate,” in the Encyclopedia Britannica , there is a table 
calculated upon the principle that the quantity of heat cut off is proportionate 
to the number of aerial particles that the rays have to encounter before reaching 
the surface of the earth—that, as a general rule, if the tracts of the rays follow an 
arithmetical progression, the diminished force with which the rays reach the 
ground will form a decreasing geometrical progression. According to this table . 
about 75 per cent, of the sun’s rays are cut off by the atmosphere in Arctic 
regions. But if 75 per cent, of the rays were cut off by the atmosphere in Arctic 
regions, then the direct rays of the sun could not maintain a mean temperature 
100 ° above that of space. But this is no doubt by far too high a percentage for 
the quantity of heat cut off, for recent discoveries in regard to the absorption of 
radiant heat by gases and vapors prove that tables computed on this principle 
must be incorrect. The researches of Tyndall and Melloni show that when rays 
pass through any substance, the absorption is rapid at first; but the rays are 
soon “ sifted,” as it is called, and they then pass onward with but little further 
obstruction. Still, however, owing to the dense fogs which prevail in Arctic 
regions, the quantity of heat cut off must be considerable. 

If as much as 50 per cent, of the sun’s rays are cut off by the atmosphere in 
Arctic regions, the amount of heat received directly from the sun is not sufficient 
to maintain a mean annual temperature of —100°. Consequently the Arctic 
regions must depend, to an enormous extent, upon ocean-currents for their tem¬ 
perature. 


181 1 am preparing a memoir “on the explorations north of Spitsbergen,” isi. 
and will not enter here on details. 


32 . 


Compare Gumprecht in the “ Zeitschrift fur Erdkunde,” 1854, vol. 3, p. 


183 “Zeitschrift fur Erdkunde,” new series, vol. 6, table 2. 

184 Geographische Mittkeilungen, 1865, p. 158. 

43 


182 . 

183 . 

184 . 


B. 


REFERENCES AND NOTES TO THE FIRST SUPPLEMENT TO 
DR. PETERMANN’S PAPER: THE TEMPERATURE OF 
THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN AND 
THE GULF STREAM. 

BY ADMIRAL IRMINGER. 


Notes. 

185-94. 185 Havet‘s Stromninger af Capt. Irminger. Nyt Archiv for Sovosenet, 1853. 

186 . 186 Already on the chart appended to my memoir “Havet’s Stromninger” I 

have indicated some bands $ on the same chart it may also be seen how the tem¬ 
perature is getting lower the nearer Greenland is approached. 

lsr. 187 Investigation of the currents of the Atlantic Ocean, by James Bennell, 

F. B. S., London, 1832, p. 165. 

i8s. 188 Findlay mentions that the temperature at the depth of 1,200 feet was 
found to be only 55°, while on the surface of the Gulf Stream it reached 77°.4. 
(Proceedings E. G. S., vol. xiii, No. 3.) In the Florida Straits, where the velocity 
of the Gulf Stream is greatest, the temperature at 4,800 feet was found to be 
only 38°.l. (Coast Survey Eeport, 1859.) 


189. ]89 Havet’s Stromninger. Nyt Archiv for Sovosenet, 1853, p. 127, 

190. 790 Proceedings of the Eoyal Geographical Society, London, 1869, No. 3, p. 
231. 


]91 A voyage of discovery toward the North Pole, by Captain Beechey, 
E. N., F. E. S., London, 1843, p. 343. 

192 An account of the Arctic regions and northern whale-fishery, by W. 
Scoresby junior, F.E. S. E., Edinburgh, 1820, p. 210. 


193 Ha vet’s Stromninger. Nyt Archiv for Sovosenet, 1853, p. 124. 

194 Stromninger og Iisdrift ved Island, af Commandeur Capitain C. Irmino-er, 
Nyt Archiv for Sovosenet, 1861. 



0 . 

REFERENCES AND NOTES TO THE SECOND SUPPLEMENTS 
TO DR. PETERMANN’S PAPER: THE METEOROLOGI¬ 
CAL OBSERVATIONS OF TOBIESEN. 


Notes. 

195 Kongl. Vetenskaps Akademiens Handlingar, (Transactions of the Royal 193 - 98 . 
Academy of Sciences,) 18G9, No. 11. The translation of the introduction from 
the Swedish is by Dr. C. F. Frisch. The table has been newly arranged by me, 
and the observations (originally in Celsius’s scale) turned into Fahrenheit’s scale. 


196 The correction is by Professor Mohn, Director of the Meteorological Insti 196. 
tute at Christiania. 


197 The observations for the position were obtained in unfavorable weather, 197. . 
and are therefore not entirely reliable. 

198 Compare the sketch table 8, Geographische Mittheilungen, 1870, part iv. 19 s. 



I). 


REFERENCES AND NOTES TO DR, YON FREEDEFS 
DISCOURSE. 


Notes. 

199-201. 199 Besides the well-known expedition of General Sabine and Colonel Claver¬ 

ing for pendulum and magnetic observations in 1823, (see note 99,) by which the 
sea along the east coast of Greenland was found to be navigable to and beyond 
the parallel of latitude 75° 14/ N., there are on record for that region the dis¬ 
covery, in 1635, of Edam Land in latitude 77° 40* N., and longitude 20° Kb W., 
and of high land seen 1670 in latitude 79° 10' N., and longitude 21° 50' W. 
Scoresby, however, discovered in 1823 errors of longitude in the charts of Green¬ 
land amounting to 14°; and the late Swedish expedition, when making deep-sea 
soundings off Prince Charles Foreland in longitude 4° to 6° E. of Greenwich, 
believed themselves to be but 160 nautical miles from the Greenland coast; as 
in latitude 79°, one degree of longitude is equal to about 12 nautical miles, the 
coast might be looked for there as far east as longitude 10° W. of Greenwich. 

The question also remains yet to be solved whether Greenland is an island, 
the north coast of which turns in about latitude 80° N. to the westward, perhaps 
to the Kennedy Channel, where Morton, one of Dr. Kane’s men, reported to 
have heard and seen the free Northern Sea “ rolling along with the motions of 
the infinite oceanor whether General Sabine is correct in assuming (because 
he did find no current at all in the summer along the Greenland coast) that in 
about latitude 76° N, it makes out far to the eastward ; or, lastly, whether Dr. 
Petermann’s hypothesis turns out to be true, according to which Greenland 
extends past the Pole to Wrangell’s Land, lately discovered by Captain Long in 
the vicinity of Behring’s Straits. 

200. 200 Gillis Land is frequently called “ the mythical.” The first accounts of 
land seen east of Spitzbergen date from 1707; subsequently it has been seen by 
the Swedish expeditions, which even attempted to trace and locate the coasts; 
but no one has thus far set foot upon it. (Compare note 126.) 

201. 201 The reports on the currents in the Northern Sea differ much in the 
various parts, and for the various seasons. The expedition, as will be seen from 
its journal, (see abstract in note 206,) has found prevailing in the eastern part of 
the sea a warm current to the north and northeast, and in the western part a cold 
compensation current to the southwest. General Sabine, on the contrary, states 
as follows: “Notwithstanding the many reports, by whalers, of a strong southerly 
current running constantly along the east coast of Greenland, we never found 
there a current, most surely not near the coast, with the exception of a single 
day, when the difference of latitudes by observations was eighteen miles greater 
than by dead reckoning; the tides, also, we found scarcely perceptible, the rise 
and fall amounting only to three feet,” And at another place: “The winds only 
appeared to cause now and then a weak current.” Lastly, in a private letter to 
Dr. Petermann : “No.current was found on the entire route from Spitzbergen 



341 


to Greenland, on which observations were made very frequently by three or 
four experienced officers, and the courses of the vessel recorded hourly.” 

Parry’s experience in the southwest stream is too well known to be men¬ 
tioned again here. He turned back July 7,1827, because the stream did set the 
ship each day as much, and even more, to the southward, than she would go 
through the water on her northern course. When in latitude 58° N., longitude 
8° W. of Greenwich, he observed the Gulf Stream to extend in a northeastern 
direction with a velocity of from five to thirteen miles per day. 

Scoresby when on the 22d of May 1822 off the Greenland Coast in latitude 
70° N., had drifted in twelve days 100 miles to the southward, but in latitude 
72o N., and longitude 19J° W., nearer to the coast, he found a weak north¬ 
western current, and on the 20th of August, in 71° 50' K, and 21° 00' W., close 
to the land, a strong westerly stream, where in July an easterly current from 
the land had been observed. These latter depend upon the melting of the snow 
in the interior of Greenland. 

In general the currents will be found to flow as recorded in the following 
table: 


Currents observed by Captain Koldeway during the first German North Polar Expedition, 1868. 


Date. 

Position at noon. 

‘ 

Direction and velo¬ 
city of the current 
in the preceding 
24 hours. 

Date. 

Position at noon. 

Direction and velo¬ 
city of the current 
in the preceding 1 
24 hours. 

Lat. 

Long, from 
Greenwich. 

Lat. 

Long. from 
Greenwich. 



O 

/ 


O 

/ 




O / 


0 / 



May 

25 

61 

57 

N. 

I 

29 

E. 


No recor 

d in the inte 

rval. 




26 

63 56 

N. 

O 

04 

E. 

E., 30 naut. miles. 

Aug. 2 

73 35 

N. 

14 03 

w: 



27 

65 

17 

N. 

I 

07 

W. 

N.NE. % E., 12 m. 

3 

73 19 

N. 

16 37 

w. 

SW., 9 miles'. 


28 

66 

41 

N. 

O 

5° 

W. 

SE. y 2 S., 23 miles. 

4 

73 23 

N. 

17 21 

w. 

Do. 


29 

68 

09 

N. 

O 

34 

W. 

No current. 

’ 5 

73 25 

N. 

17 22 

W. 

Do. 

No reCor 

d in this inte 

rval. 



6 

73 23 

N. 

16 34 

w. 

Do. 

June 

7 

75 

01 

N. 

II 

°3 

W. 


7 

73 20 

N. 

16 01 

w. 

SW. by W., 13 miles. 


8 

75 

19 

N. 

12 

48 

W. 

S.SW., 11 miles. 

8 

73 °8 

N. 

n 46 

w. 

S., 13 miles. 

From Ju 

ne 8th to 23d 

beset by ice 


9 

72 56 

N. 

9 06 

w. 

S.SW. y x W., 15 m. 

June 

23 

73 

31 

N. 

15 

27 

W 

S.SW., 11 miles, (av¬ 

. 10 

72 22 

N. 

6 36 

w. 

Do. 









erage drift.) 

11 

72 45 

N. 

. 2 27 

w. 

Do. 


24 

74 

13 

N. 

14 

13 

w. 

SW.by S., 12 miles. 

12 

72 33 

N. 

2 07 

w. 

Do. 


25 

74 

12 

N. 

14 

00 

w. 

Do. 

13 

73 IS 

N. 

3 10 

w. 

S.SW. % W., 7miles. 


26 

74 

36 

N. 

13 

55 

w. 

S.byW.K W., g.m. 

14 

73 5i 

N. 

1 43 

w. 

SE. by Si, 11 miles. 


27 

75 

15 

N. 

12 

52 

w. 

Do. 

15 

75 44 

N. 

0 09 

w. 

S.SE., 10 miles. 


28 

75 

52 

N. 

12 

11 

w. 

Do. 

16 

77 54 

N. 

4 16 

E. 

Do. 


29 

75 

IO 

N. 

11 

47 

w. 

Do. 

17 

79 06 

N. 

10 06 

E. 

Do. 


3° 

75 

08 

N. 

6 

11 

w. 

W.SW., n miles. 

18 

80 00 

N. 

14 17 

E. 

SE.byE.^E., 7 m. 

July 

1 

75 

02' 

N. 

2 

52 

E. 

SW. y S., 21 miles. 

No recor 

d in the inte 

rval. 




2 

75 

34 

N. 

9 

17 

E. 

S.byW.^ W.,i6m. 

Sept. 14 

80 42 

N. 

15 57 

E. 



3 

7 6 

34 

N. 

15 

52 

E. 

E. Yz N., 8 miles. 

15 

80 16 

N. 

13 37 

E. 

E., 10 miles. 


4 

76 

°3 

N. 

18 

07 

E. 

S.SE., 12 miles. 

16 

80 14 

N. 

6 37 

E. 

N.NE. X E., 13m. 


5 

75 

40 

N. 

22 

59 

E. 

SW. Yz W., 13 miles. 

17 

78 58 

N. 

8 10 

E. 

N.NE. % E., 14m. 


6 

75 

38 

N. 

23 

37 

E. 

Do. 

18 

77 05 

N. 

7 36 

E. 

N., 12 miles. 


7 

75 

39 

N. 

19 

25 

E. 

W. y 2 S., 10miles. 

19 

76 11 

N. 

5 19 

E. 

Do. 

No recor 

ds in the int 

erval.- 



20 

74 55 

N. 

4 42 

E. 

Do. 

July 

15 

77 

38 

N. 

14 

34 

E. 


21 

73 15 

N. 

3 17 

E. 

N. by E. Y E., 8 m. 


l6 

78 

00 

N. 

11 

39 

E. 

N. Yz E., 4 miles. 

22 

72 34 

N. 

3 24 

E. 

Do. 


19 

80 

13 

N. 

5 

52 

E. 


23 

7 1 40 

N. 

3 16 

E. 

Do. 


20 

79 

15 

N. 

4 

00 

E. 

SW. % W., 22 miles. 

No recor 

ds in the int 

erval. 




21 

77 

40 

N. 

4 

33 

E. 

N.NE. Y E., 18 m. 

Sept. 28 

60 46 

N. 

4 16 

E. 

Strong northerly . 


22 

76 17 

N. 

0 

18 

W. 


29 

60 39 

N. 

4 53 

E. 

Do. 

i 

23 

75 5° 

N. 

2 

51 

W. 

W.SW., 5 miles. 








Jfote. 

201 . 

(Con’d.) 





































342 


Notes. 

201 - 6 . 


202 . 


203 . 


204 . 


205 . 


206 . 


The currents recorded above apply to the interval from noon to noon; for 
instance, the first record, “ E. 30 miles,” is for the distance between the position 
of the ship at noon of May the 25th, and that at noon of May the 26th. This 
first observation is remarkable in direction as well as in force. The vicinity of 
the coast which is studded there with islets and abounds in deep inlets, may 
cause the general current to be deflected locally in ilie stated direction. 


202 The commander of the North German whaler Hannover expressly stated 
a that there had never been so much ice everywhere as during this year.” 

Previous to speaking that ship, when the Greenland was yet drifting in the 
ice, she came, hid by the fog, in the vicinity of an English vessel, also drifting 
with the ice, the mate of which, supposing her abandoned, came with some 
sailors to take possession, and was much astonished when he saw the heads of 
the crew, one by one, appearing over the hammock nettings. 


203 Among other things a pumpkin was seen, but could not be fished. The 
drift-wood consists principally of pine wood, (branches, trunks, and roots,) 
smooth and knotty pieces, piled up in great quantities, especially on the east 
coast of Spitzbergen and the small islands north of it, and coming mostly from 
the Siberian main. Scoresby found it as low as latitude 66° N. in longitude 4° 
W. of Greenwich. 

204 Scoresby also mentions fields of ice of forty miles in length, and 700 to 
800 square miles in area, (more than half as large as the State of Rhode Island.— 
Hydrographic Office.) 

205 Mr. Petermann supposes that whaling vessels have been higher north 
than latitude 81° N. 

206 A complete copy of the journal of the expedition, embracing all the obser¬ 
vations which usually were taken at regular intervals six times a day, would 
require too much space. 

The following is an abstract, containing the position of the ship at noon of 
each day; the direction and force of the wind at noon; the reduced observation 
of the barometer in English inches, at noon and the daily mean; the^tempera- 
ture of the air at noon the daily mean, the normal mean temperature of the 
place according to Dove and the difference of the two latter, all in Fahrenheit’s 
scale;■ the temperature of the surface of the sea at noon, and the daily mean; 
the number of hours of fog, (F.,) rain, (R.,) snow, (S.,) and hail, (H.,) of each 
day; and the average state of the sky, (the form of the clouds and the propor¬ 
tion of the sky obscured.) 

Should a meteorological Institute wish to obtain more detailed data, the 
North German Seewarte will very cheerfully furnish them as far as able. The 
daily mean barometer readings, and the daily mean temperature of the air and 
of the surface of the sea, are computed by the formula i (16 hours -f 20 hours 
4 - 0 hours -f 4 hours 4- 8 hours + 12 hours.) 


Abstract of the journal of the First German North Polar Expedition, 1868 . 


343 


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Abstract of the journal of the First German North Polar Expedition, 1868—Continued. 


349 


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66 9 N. 
63 30 N. 
61 41 N. 

60 46 N. 
60 36 N. 

Date. 

Sept. 25 

26 

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Note, 

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'Con'd.) 




























































350 


Notes. 

207-8. 


208 . 


207 These are but hypothetical values, not founded upon actual observations. 
We, on the contrary, believe in the extension of the Gulf Stream to Spitzber- 
gen, even in winter. 


A. PETERMANK. 


208 The following is a table of the deep-sea soundings by the First German 
Xortli Polar Expedition, 1868: 



Date. 


Position. 


tn 

a 

0 

XJ 

1 

Description of the specimen of bottom. 

Number. 


Latitude. 

Long, from 
Greenwich. 

G 

xs 

0, 

<D 

Q 

I 

June 

27 

O / 

75 15N. 

| 0 / 

12 30 

W. 

240 

Reddish clay with a few pebbles of grayish-black granite. 

2 

June 

27 

75 44 N. 

12 II 

W. 

i 35 

Grayish-red clay without pebbles. 

3 

June 

27 

75 52 N. 

12 11 

w. 

150 

Do. 

4 

July 

3 

76 36 N. 

15 52 

E. 

300 

j Gray clay and pebbles. 

5 

July 

4 

75 59 N. 

18 55 

E. 

■85 

Fine gray clay with white pebbles. 

6 

July 

4 

76 03 N. 

| 19 47 

E. 

5 ° 

Shells and pebbles. 

7 

July 

4 

75 58 N. 

20 14 

E. 

30 

I 

8 

'July 

4 

75 54 N. | 

20 40 

E. 

22 

^Yellowish-red shells, black (granite) and red round pebbles. 

9 

July 

5 

75 5 i N. 

20 25 

E. 

22 

IO 

July 

5 

75 48 N. 

21 09 

E. 

21 

The same, but finer, especially the black pebbles. 

ii 

July 

5 

75 46 N. 

21 34- 

E. 

22 j 

Do. 

12 

July 

5 

75 43 N • 

•21 59 

E. 

25 

Light-yellow shells, without pebbles. 

J 3 

July 

5 

75 42 N. 

22 29 

E. 

26 

Light-yellow shells, somewhat finer. 

H 

July 

5 

75 40 N. 

22 59 

E. 

3 o 

Grayish-yellow shells and gray pebbles with sharp edges. 

15 

July 

5 

75 45 N. 

22 57 

E. 

25 

Fine grayish-yellow shells and black, smooth pebbles. 

16 

July 

5 

75 45 N. 

23 24 

E. 

45 

Fine gray elay. 

*7 

July 

6 

75 38 N. 

23 24 

E. 

30 

Gray clay, coarser. 

18 

July 

6 

75 32 N. 

22 26 

E. 

31 

Coarse yellow shells, thick. 

19 

July 

6 

75 20 N. 

21 13 

E. 

25 * 

Pretty fine yellow shells and black, round pebbles. 

20 

July 

7 

75 39 N. 

19 48 

E. 

40 

Coarse yellow shells, thick. 

21 

July 

7 

75 33 N. 

19 02 

E. 

45 

Fine variegated gravel, yellow shells, and stones. 

22 

July 

12 

77 21 N. 

14 04 

E. 

35 

Black round pebbles, (granite.) 

23 

August 

3 

73 17 N. 

17 40 

W. 

250 

Gray clay with a large stone. 

24 

August 

5 

73 23 N. 

17 22 

W. 

140 

Fine granular clay. 

25 

August 

5 

73 25 N. 

17 22 

W. 

170 

Do. 

26 

August 

17 

79 11 N. 

10 06 

E. 

22 

Yellow shells, black and carmine pebbles. 

27 

August 

17 

79 44 N. 

10 22 

E. 

32 

Yellow shells, (at Hackluyt.) 

28 

August 

1 7 

79 52 N. 

11 08 

E. 

7 

Coarse gray granite. 

29 

August 

17 

79 58 N. 

11 46 

E. 

33 

Fine pebbles and shells. 

30 

August 

18 

79 59 N. 

11 52 

E. 

28 

Yellow shells. 

3 i 

August 

18 

80 00 N. 

13 02 

E. 

80 

Evenly fine, gray clay. 

32 

August 

18 

80 00 N. 

13 53 

E. 

80 

Do. 

33 

August 

18 

80 00 N. 

14 08 

E. 

44 

Shells and clay. 

34 

August 

30 

79 19 N. 

20 52 

E. 

36 

Black clay and loam. 

35 

August 

30 

79 19 N. 

21 00 

E. 

31 

Loam and coarse stones. 

36 

August 

30 

79 19 N. 

21 06 

E. ‘ 

28 

Whitish clay and shell fragments. 

37 

September 

13 

80 21 N. 

15 33 

E. 

52 

Fine gray clay. 

38 

September 

13 

80 39 N. 

16 57 

E. 

55 

Do. 

39 

September 

•14 

80 16 N. 

13 37 

E. 

85 

Do. 































351 


The following soundings were without results : 


J Number. 

Date., 

Position. 

Depth in fathoms. 

Description of the specimen of bottom. 

Latitude. 

Long, from 
Greenwich. 


May 26 

63 56 N. 

O / 

00 04 E. 

29O 

No bottom reached. 


July 6 

75 38 N. 

23 37 n 

200 

Do. 


July 17 

79 16 N. 

06 02 E. 

400 

Do. 


July 28 

74 34 N. 

14 10 W. 

400 

Do. 


September 12 

80 14 N. 

16 18 E. 

120 

Do. 


September 13 

80 46 N. • 

16 52 E. 

120 

Do. 


Professor Ehrenberg, to whom tlie specimens of the bottom brought home 
by the expedition were sent for examination, made, in the session of the Berlin 
Academy of December 10, 1868, the following remarks in regard to them: 

“ I cannot yet report in detail on the scientifically interesting character of 
these 39 specimens, but, as other similar expeditious are in prospect, I would 
earnestly recommend that they be provided with the proper apparatus for bring¬ 
ing up such specimens from greater depths, as the general impression that the 
Northern Sea is, in the main, but shallow, is probably erroneous. The knowledge 
of the bed of the Polar Sea will obtain a broader foundation only when we suc¬ 
ceed in bringing up specimens not despoiled by the tallow now used for raising 
them. The much spoken of apparatus of Brooke, and the more capacious now 
in use on British, Swedish, and Russian ships of war, will promote the cause. 

“At present this valuable material must first be freed from the tallow 
mixed up with it, before the very minute forms of life found in the Polar seas 
can be specified with any certainty. The entire collection by the German expe¬ 
dition has the great scientific advantage that the depths at which they were 
obtained not, being very great, are sure, while greater depths are frequently 
uncertain. 

“ The enumeration of all the small species of forms found in the bed of the 
sea, and constituting it, is, however, not the most important object of research; 
it is of far greater moment to establish more firmly whether the six classes of 
smallest, to the naked eye invisible, independent organic forms and fragments of 
such, which have already been adopted in microgeology, and which thus far 
have exclusively been found under all the relations of the planet, viz: 

“ 1. Polythalamia, as independent calcareous Crustacea; 

“ 2. Zoolitharia, as dependent fragments of radiata and corals; 

“ 3. Polyastric bacillaria and 

“4. Polycystina, as independent siliceous Crustacea; 

“ 5. Phytolitharia and 

“6. Geolithia, as organic siliceous vegetable fragments, 
are also existing, without or with other components, in the Polar zone, and so 
to reach final results in this branch of the exploration of the relations of organic 
life in nature. 

“ According to The preliminary report of Professor Nordenskiold, (in the 
Geographische Mittheilungen for 1868, p. 429,) on the results of the contempora¬ 
neous labors of the Swedish expedition, these also did not extend beyond lati- 










352 


Notes. 

20S-9. tiule 81° N. They appear, however, to have been extraordinarily successful as 
regards the better knowledge of Spitzbergen and Bear Island; and the deep-sea 
soundings, with the specimens of bottom brought up from depths of 1,350 and 
2,000 fathoms, will contribute materially to the accurate knowledge of the bed 
of the sea; they have also proved by direct observation that the assumption 
of the Northern Sea being shallow is incorrect. 

u If Captain Koldewey has not obtained bottom from great depths, the 39 
specimens brought home appear to convey very sure data for conclusions in 
regard to the current-relations in the regions visited by the Greenland. In 
22 of the soundings muddy bottom was found, while by the other 17 casts 
coarser debris and rolling matter without any mud was brought up. It may be 
inferred from this that there exists in the latter 17 places at the bottom a cur. 
rent which prevents the finer particles of the matter, sinking down successively, 
from settling quietly, and rounds off the stony elements. Beversedly, and sup¬ 
posing that the lead did not accidentally fall into a funnel-shaped hole, it may 
be concluded that immediately over each of the 22 specimens, consisting of fine 
dust or mud, the sea must have been completely at rest, as otherwise the fine 
dust could not have quietly settled and augmented there. In regard to the mud 
itself, I will only state preliminarily that the few examinations made thus far 
have exhibited a not inconsiderable admixture of organic forms, for the greater 
part spongolitlue and single phytolitharia. 

u The 17 specimens which contain rolling stones of sufficient weight to 
resist a weak motion, and which therefore indicate a ground current, are the 
numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22, 26, 27, 28, and 33. 

“ The reef between Spitzbergen and Bear Island, to its sudden plunge to 
, the southwest, may be compared in certain respects with the Newfoundland 
Banks, where likewise the conflict of the Gulf Stream with the Polar stream 
appears to be the cause of the great deposits.” 


209 This movement of the waters and of the ice has been observed already by 
Barents 1596 to 1597, and Admiral Liitke confirms that a current from the south 
flows west of Nova Zembla, and a counter-stream from the east, north of the 
island. On his last voyage homeward-bound he traced the ice-barrier in latitude 
75J° N. to longitude 44° E. of Greenwich. 

Hedenstrom also records that farther east along the coast of New Siberia 
the sea is in March free of ice . Middendorf reached Cape Tayrnir through an 
open sea. 

Parry encountered the first ice on May 5tli in latitude 73J° N., longitude 
' i° W. S. W. of Bear Island. It extended in long unbroken strips more than 
100 miles in a N. N. W. direction. 

A Bussian, Staratschin, who lived in Spitzbergen for 15 years uninterrupt¬ 
edly, sailed four times around the entire island, failing twice in the attempt. He 
believes the coast from S. E. to N. E. to be free of ice for four to five months 
of the year; (but how far ?) 


353 


210 Deep-sea tempera tures observed by the First German North Polar Expedition, 1868. 


Notes 


Time, 

Position. 

1 

M 

3 

Temperature. 





cs w 








— s 




Month and day. 

Hour. 

Latitude. 

Longitude from 

5 0 

B. 

Of the sea at 1 

Of the sea, at 

flip 0ii" 

[_ 



Greenwich. 

M 

O 

P 

the depth. 

the surface. 

vyi ilie <111. 



O / 

O / 


O 

O 

0 

May 25 

O 

61 57 N. 

1 29 E. 

50 

47.8 

47.8 

48.7' 

26 

O 

63 56 N. 

0 04 E. 

70 

4 - 

''4 

OO 

47-3 

50.4 

26 

4 

64 11 N. 

0 08 W. 

60 

OO 

47-3 

50.0 

26 

12 

64 36 N. 

0 38 WL 

75 

45.5 

45-5 

47.1 

26 

l6 

64 46 N. 

0 45 W. 

80 

41.0 

44.6 

45-5 

26 

l 6 

64 46 N. 

0 45 W. 

60 

42.1 1 

44.6 

45-5 

27 

12 | 

. 66 04 N. 

2 02 W. 

55 

39-4 

42.5 

44-4 

27 

12 

66 04 N. 

2 02 w. 

30 

41.1 

42.5 

44-4 

28 

8 

67 21 N. 

° 37 W. 

55 

38.7 

42.1 

41.0 

28 

l6 1 

67 58 N. 

0 54 W. 

45 

38.7 

41.4 

36.5 

31 

10 1 

70 25 N. 

3 12 w. 

30 

34-5 

36.0 

30.9 

3 i 

12 

70 29 N. 

2 37 W. 

30 

35.4 

35-4 

34-7 

31 

l8 

70 40 N. 

2 17 W. 

5 ° 

37.6 

38.7 

34-7 

June 1 

O 

70 30 N. 

2 15 W. 

40 

37-8 

38.7 

34-7 

July 18 

O 

80 38 N. 

6 40 W. 

100 

37 - 1 

(ice) 32.0 

OO 

August 3 

21 

73 25 N. 

17 18 W. 

170 

33 - 1 

32.0 

32.0 

; September 13 

l6 

81 00 N. 

16 n E. 

So 

35-4 

34-2 

29.3 

17 

l8 

77 16 N. 

7 04 E. 

80 

36.7 

36.9 

30-4 

21 

4 

73 10 N. 

3 19 E. 

100 

32.0 

36.0 

3 * • 1 

22 

O 

72 34 N. 

3 24 E. 

60 

32.0 

38.7 

36.1 

22 

2 

72 25 N. 

3 21 E. 

40 

37 - 6 

38.9 

36.1 

22 

22 

71 55 N. 

3 23 E. 

40 

38.5 

4 1 -5 

37 -i 

23 

O 

71 40 N. 

3 16 E. 

60 

39.8 

43.0 

, 38.5 

24 

2 

68 48 N. 

1 18 E. 

60 

43 -° 

46.2 

.42.3 


211 Very similar conclusions must be drawn from the following table of deep- 211 
sea temperatures kindly sent me by Professor Mokn. They are from the journal 
of the steamer Hansteen 7 and are the more valuable, because obtained within the 
limits of but a small area, the West Fiord on the coast of Norway: 



Position. 

1 

Temperature. 


Decline of tem¬ 
perature for 
• each 10 fath- 
0m s — de¬ 
duced. 

Date. 

Latitude north. 

• 

Longitude east of 
Greenwich. 

Of the surface 

of the sea. 

At the depth re¬ 
corded in the 

next column. 

Depth in 
fathoms. 

1868. 

July 7 

O ! 

68 10 

0 / 

14 45 

O 

51.4 

O 

45-7 

32 Q 

0.18 

16 

68 00 

13 35 

50.0 

45-5 

OO 

0.76 

18 

68 00 

13 35 

50.4 

45-3 

65 

0.78 

27 

68 00 

13 30 

50.4 

45-3 

82 . 

0.61 

28 

68 00 

13 30 

51- 1 

45.0 

150 

0.41 

29 

68 00 

13 30 

57 * 2 

45.0 

85 

1.44 

August 4 

67 50 

14 40 

53 - 6 

44.6 

240 

0 

U) 

00 

5 

68 10 

14 i 5 

54-3 

44.6 

160 

0.61 

7 

68 10 

14 i 5 

55.8 

43-5 

94 

1.30 

20 

67 50 

13 30 

54-3 

45.0 

146 

0.65 

22 

67 50 

13 30 

54-7 

44.6 

221 

0.45 

September 12 

67 50 

14 25 

5 i -4 

1 

45-3 

180 

0.34 


Mean. °’ 7 ° 

The observations in latitude 67° 50' by themselves would give. °-45 

The observations in latitude 68° 00' by themselves would give. 0.79 

The observations in latitude 68° iq' by themselves would give. °* 7 Q 


45 





























































354 


Notes. j 

2IJ-14. In deducing the mean of the total the first observation has been rejected, 
because the lead had reached probably near the bottom. 

# # . # # * * * 

212 . 212 The following is a recapitulation of the sleigh expeditions, according to 
the Geographisclie Mittheilungen, 1868, No. 5: 

Captain McClintock, 1,220 miles in 105 days. 

Captain G. Richards, 1,012 miles in 102 days. 

Lieutenant Mecham, 1,203 miles. 

Captains Richards and Osborn, 1,093 miles. 

Lieutenant Hamilton, 1,150 miles, with only one companion in a dog-sleigh. 

Lieutenant Mecham, 1,157 miles in 70 days. 

Lieutenant Youug, 1,150 miles. 

Captain McClintock, 1,330 miles. 

Commodore Parry, 1,127 miles in 67 days. 

213. 213 Short account of the principal expeditions to the sea north of Spitzbergen: 

1773. Phipps cruised the entire summer, to the 20th of August, north of 
Spitzbergen without being able to reach the parallel of latitude 81° N. He saw 
field-ice as far as his eye could reach j his account of it caused Parry’s expedition 
in sleigh-boats. 

1818. Buchan and Franklin repeated the attempt, but did not go farther 
than 80° 30' N. The ice was high and close, without a navigable opening. 

Scoresby visited the waters of Spitzbergen for many years, but readied 
only once to latitude 81° 30' N., and could not penetrate higher, although he saw 
saw a considerable opening in the ice extending from east to west. 

1827. Parry attempted to push, in sleigh-boats, from Spitzbergen to the 
North Pole. He traveled on broken ice pressed firmly together to latitude 82° 
45' N., reaching there the 23d July, but could not see there any indication of 
open water toward the north. On the return he did not come to navigable 
water before reaching latitude 81° 34' N. 

1861. Torell and Nordenskiold ascended the Snotoppen (snow-summit) on 
the Northeastland, 1,900 feet high, but could not detect any signs of open water 
north of the Seven Islands. (From the memoirs of the Swedish expedition of 
1864, supplement No. 16 to the Geographisclie Mittheilungen.) 

214. 214 The daily amplitude of the air will be seen from the following: 


Table of mean temperatures . 


Month. 

o hrs. 

4 hrs. 

8 hrs. 

12 hrs. 

16 hrs. 

20 hrs. 

Places.- 


O 

0 

O 



0 


May. 

43-79 

43-05 

42.49 

j 40.96 

40.80 

4i-43 

On the way north. 

June. 

32-72 

33.08 

33-06 

32.36 

32-38 

32.36 

In the ice near Greenland. 

July. 

37-26 

36.52 

35-96 

35-92 

35.22 

36.36 

Spitzbergen reef and open sea 
%vest of Spitzbergen. 

August. 

34-97 

35-28 

33-71 

32.16 

32.18 

33-49 

! Off Greenland, to the north, and 
Hinlopen Straits. 

September. 

36.52 

36.81- 

36.03 

! 35-94 

35-76 

36.12 

Hinlopen Straits and home voy¬ 
age. 

Mean. 

37.°6 

36.95 

36-25 

| 35-46 

35-26 

35-96 























355 


Note*. 

This method of arriving at means may meet disapproval y it was, however, 214 - 13 . 
the only one available; there is no doubt of the insignificance of the fluctuation. 

In close connection with this uniformity of the temperature is the rarity of 
thunder-storms in high latitudes. Yon Baer reports that “in Nova Zembla and 
in Spitsbergen thunder is sometimes heard,” but according to the testimony of 
Scoresby, Parry, Ross, Franklin, and others, it cannot be doubted that, in 
general, electric explosions are of extremely rare occurrence between the parallels 
of latitude 70° and 75° N. Compare also Humboldt’s Kosmos, # i, p. 364. The 
German expedition also has observed none in higher latitudes. 

Absolute extremes of temperature. 


Month. 

Air. 

Sea. 

Maximum. 

Minimum. 

Maximum. 

Minimum. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

September. 

O 

On the 24th, 52.2 
On the 19th, 37.6 
On the 15th, 46.6 
On the 5th, 41.0 
On the 29th, 53.8 

O 

On the 31st, 29.6 
On the 4th, 25.2 • 
On the 24th, 30.4 
On the 25th, 24.4 
On the 12th, 28.2 

O 

On the 25th, 49.3 
On the 1st, 38.8 
On the 9th, 42.1 
On the 17th, 41.7 
On the 28th, 54.7 

° 1 

On the 31st, 32.0 I 

On the 15th, 28.6 ; 

On the 3d, 30.6 j 

On the 31st, 29.8 

On 1st, 7th,&8th, 32.0 I 


215 The following is a register of the winds arranged by months: The unit of 21.5. 
time is the watch, (one watch as regulated on ship-board being = 4 hours;) the 
figures in brackets indicate the storms 5 besides these, the hours of fog, rain, and 
snow, and the extent of the clouds are enumerated. N. B. North = North + 4, 

(N. by E. + N. by W.,) &c.: 



















356 


Note. 

215. 

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Register of the winds —Continued. 


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Xote. 

215 . 

(Con’d.) 










































































































































358 


Note. 

215 . Thus the sum of all the watches, during which observations were made, 


Con’d.) 0 f f our hours each, is. 773 

The aggregate force (according to Beaufort) of all the winds, the 

calms included.. ... 2, G08 

The average force, therefore, of winds, including calms. 3. 4 

Sum total of all the calms, (watches). 117 

Sum total of all the winds really, (watches).. 656 

Their aggregate force.. 2, 608 

The average force of the winds really.. 4.0 

Of the winds there were gales. 55 

Their average force was..... 8. 4 

Proportion of the watches to calms..100 to 15 

Proportion of the watches to gales.100 to 7 

Proportion of the watches to fogs of 4 hours’ duration.100 to 17 

Proportion of the watches to rains of 4 hours’ duration..100 to 5 

Proportion of the watches to snows of 4 hours’ duration.100 to 10 

Watches with a clear sky. 19 

And their proportion to the whole number. .100 to 2. 5 


There were consequently in 100 watches, or 400 hours; 17 watches or 68 
hours of fog; 5 watches or 20 hours of rain ; 10 watches or 40 hours of snow ; 
2. 5 watches or 10 hours of clear sky; 78 w^atclies or 312 hours of light to stiff 
breezes ; 7 watches or 28 hours of gales; and 15 watches or 60 hours of calms. 

The prevailing direction of the wind in general is northerly; the mean 
direction for the entire region traversed by the ship, deduced according to Lam¬ 
bert’s formula, is 31° E. 

The quarter from which most of the winds blew is that from N. N. W., 
through N. to S. E. There were from N. N. W. 65 winds, against 37 from S. S. 
E,; from the N. 83, against 52 from the south; from N. N. E. 46, against 33 
from S. S. W.; from N. E. 40, against 29 from S, W.; from E. N. E. 29, against 
7 from W. S. W.; from the east 43, against 28 from the west; from E. S. E. 30, 
against 20 from W. 1ST. W.; and from S. E. 58, against 56 from N. W. 

The gales also came in the greater part from a northerly and easterly direc¬ 
tion; there were from the N. W., 1; N. K W., 2; K, 10; N. N. E., 12; N. E., 
5; E. N. E., 5; E., 9; E. S.E., 4; S. E., 1; S., 5; S. S. W., 1. 

They come often very suddenly, especially those from a southeasterly 
direction, (at Bear Island and in Hinlopen Straits), last but a short time, and 
are, without exception, followed by calms. Those of longer duration blow from 
east to north. Changes of the wind were observed: 

Against the sun 15 times in stormy weather, 

With the sun 6 times in stormy weather, 

Against the sun 10 times in moderate weather, 

With the sun 6 times in moderate weather. 

Between these changes there were 27 complete calms and 7 baffling winds. 

The following is recorded in detail, in regard to the winds and the weather, 
for the several months and various localities : 

In May, after starting from Bergen on the passage north, there were for the 
first days fresh southerly breezes, followed by the first severe gale from E. to 
H. E., which prevented tlie passage to Jan Mayen. It brought much rain, 


















359 


of which there was more during the 8 days of May than in the succeeding three 2 ts. 
summer months, (42 hours against 33)-during the rain, in May as well as in (Con’d.) 
the three summer months, the wind came from the southern quarter by the E. 
to N. E.; in September, also, the rain, then twice as copious, was accompanied 
by winds from the N. E. and S. E. quarters, as there was to the west only ice 
and land, and to the east the warm sea. The average force of the wind in*May 
was 5. 

The little fog in May comes from the ice to the N. W.; the snow from N. N. 

E. and N. E.; the proportion of the covered sky was in the average 7.7. 

Nearly throughout all of June the ship was, with the exception of the three 
first days, off the Greenland coast, where she was beset by the ice for 13 days. 

It blew’ 118 watches from the quarter N. N. W. through N. to S. S. E., and only 
46 watches from the S. S. E. by the S. to N. N. W., consequently twice as often 
from an easterly as from a westerly direction; betw T een these winds were 16 
watches of calms and 10 with gales; the latter also came nearly all from the 
E. S. E. by the E. to N. N. W.; only twice from the south. 

There was in June the enormous number of hours of fog, 238, two-fifths of 
which were accompanied qlmost exclusively by easterly winds, (from the near 
warm sea beyond the ice,) and hardly any by westerly or southwesterly winds. 

Under and on the coast the sky is, according to Scoresby and Sabine, gener¬ 
ally clear, and fogs occur; mostly in calms, which is corroborated by our 
observations. 

There was little rain in June, but the more snow; two-fiftlis of the aggre¬ 
gate number of hours of snow during the cruise, not so thick, however, as in 
Hinlopen Straits, and north of it, once for three days and again for two days in 
succession, for the most part with northerly, easterly, and southeasterly winds. 

The proportion of sky covered was great, 8.7; it was not for a single day 
entirely clear, hardly for a couple of watches on the 24th, when the company 
was surprised to see ships quite close-to. 

In July the first attempt was made for the Spitsbergen reef, and that to the 
northwest of Spitzbergen, with the return to the Greenland ice. The ship, 
therefore, was successively on the eastern, the northern, and the western border 
of the ice, and then at the southwest coast of Spitzbergen, where a landing was 
effected. 

There are many winds in July from the quarter N. N. W. to N. E., and also 
from S. E., but the other directions are also represented in the table more 
evenly; their average force is only 3. There were more calms than in June; 
they decrease in number with the advance of the summer. There were only 7 
gales. 

The number of hours of fog was considerable in July, and is the fourth part 
of the sum total for the cruise, or exactly the monthly average, but they were 
•now principally with winds from the N. W. to N., and E. S. E. to W.; that is, 
always from the open sea. There was more rain than in June, 10 per cent, of 
the sum total, mostly with easterly winds; and much less snow, 7 per cent, of 
the sum total, nearly exclusively with winds from the N. N. W. to N. The 
average proportion of covered sky was 8.2; there were several watches with an. 
entirely clear sky. 

During the first half of August the ship was off Greenland, during the other 
half on the passage to Hinlopen Strait, and within the latter. The meteorologi¬ 
cal character of the month, therefore, varies according to the locality. Off 


360 


Xotes. 

215-1 ^Greenland the heaviest and longest gale was experienced, blowing throughout 
17 watches from the N. E. to the N.; another one in Hinlopen Strait, blowing 
through 4 watches from E. S. E. to S. E., in the direction of the strait, in.which 
the wind generally blows. The average force of the winds for the month is only 
3.1, and, excepting the two gales, hardly 2$ there were only G4 hours of fog in the 
month, 12 per cent, of the sum total, principally with N. TV. and N. E. winds. 
The hours of rain were 9, not quite C per cent, of the sum total; hours of snow, 
25, about 8 per cent. The weather was clearer, the average proportion of sky 
covered, only 7.2. There were a number of watches with a perfectly clear sky, 
off Greenland as well as in Hinlopen Strait. Off Greenland new ice had already 
formed. 

In the first part of September the ship remained in Hinlopen Strait, and 
made then the last attempt toward north; in the second half she was sailing 
home. Winds from N. W. to N. E. were preponderating; there was a gale in 
the strait from the east, and another on the high sea in the latitude of the 
North Cape, also from the east. The average force of the wind was 3.5. There 
were many calms, especially in the strait; as also much fog and snow, likewise 
almost exclusively in the strait. At one time snow fell for three days with¬ 
out interruption, in flakes as large as walnuts, as observed also by Parry. 
There were 91 hours of fog, 17 per cent, of the sum total, and 11G hours of 
snow, 38 per cent. Much rain fell in addition, viz, 91 hours, or 55 per cent, of 
the sum total, part of which, however, in lower latitudes on the passage home. 
Parry complains of the same even in his higher latitudes. The average propor¬ 
tion of covered sky is great, 8.G; there is hardly one clear watch recorded. 

216 . 216 It is generally known that cold by no means depends upon the parallel of 

latitude, least so in the higher latitudes. The Equator is as little the warmest 
as the Poles are the coldest parts of the globe. Winter Island may well be 
considered the physical North Pole in the summer season, as the mean tempera 
ture of July is for— 

Winter Island, in latitude G6° 10 / N., longitude 83° 30' W. of Greenwich, 35°.4 


Port Bowen, do. 73° IP do. 88° 54' do. 3GQ.5 

Igloolik, do. 79° 30' do. 80° 50' do. 39°.0 

Boothia Felix, do. 70° 00' do. 93° 00' do. 41°.5 

Godhaab, do. 64° 05' do. 52° 05' do. 41°.9 

And Melville Island, 75° 00' do. 112° 00' do. 42°.G 

And the quarterly mean for June, July, and August, of— 

Winter Island.... 32°.0 

Port Bowen. 34°.3 

Igloolik . 34°.9 

And Melville Island. 37°.2 


From this cause the flora and fauna are the poorest on Winter Island. 

In the winter season, however, it is coldest at the mouth of the Lena, in 
New Siberia. (Compare Hove.) 

21 r. 217 All northern voyagers speak of these storm-squalls lasting only a few 

hours, which constitute one of the many peculiarities of the meteorology of the 
Northern Sea. They occur mostly in the vicinity of the ice, thus showing their 
origin. The journal of the expedition records them frequently on the Spitzber 






361 


Note. 

geu reef as setting in from tlie S. E., and in the Hinlopen Straits, traveling in M 7 * 
their direction, hut also off the Greenland wall, coming there mostly from the ( Con ’ d > 
east, and thence, perhaps, traveling into the warmer bights of the Scoresby 
Sound, Davy Sound, &c., which extend far west deep into Greenland, and, per¬ 
haps, run entirely through it. On the high sea, where the ship had tt) lay-to, the 
squalls from the east were the warm, those from the south the icy. The former 
came from the sea, the latter from the direction of Iceland over the wide fields 
of ice. 

Although it may, on account of the comparatively few observations, be con¬ 
sidered a venture, I have attempted to establish for the Greenland Sea and for 
Hinlopen Straits, the two regions where the ship remained for some time, the 
influence of the winds on the movements of the barometer and of the thermo¬ 
meter, and on the kind and quantity of precipitated moisture. I have noted 
first the respective data for each wind, then combined the winds around each of 
the eight principal points of the compass according to the formula North = N. -f 
N. by W. + N. by E. -f J N. N. W. 4 - 4 N. N. E., and lastly computed the 
daily means. 

Thus I obtained: 

1. For the time from the 6 th to the 23d of Juue, off Greenland, in latitude 
76° to 73° N., and longitude 12 ° to 16° W.: 


Wind. 

Pressure of air, 
(English inches.) 

Temperature, 

(Fahrenheit.) 

Hours of 
fog. 

Hours of 

rain. 

Hours of 

snow. 

North. 

29.618 

42.11 

17 


45 

Northeast. 

20.602 

44.46 

4 

,8 


13 

East.. 

J • 7 

29.668 

42.86 

9 * 


25 

Southeast. 

29.632 

1 

31.38 

8 

2 

22 

South . , 

29.820 

40.46 

. 1 


6 

Southwest 

2^. 846 

.6l 




West 

2Q. 78 l 

33.84 

.... 1 .|. 

N orthwest 

29.802 

32.67 

Q2 .QO 

2 


12 








J * y 

1 


2. For the time from August 20 to September 12, in Hinlopen Straits: 


Wind. 

Pressure of air, 
(English inches.) 

Temperature, 

(Fahrenheit.) 

Hours of 
fog. 

| Hours of 
rain. 

Hours of 

snow. 


29.806 

O 

31.10 

4 


21 

East. 

29.541 

32.96 

*3 

26 

24 

< sn,ith f>!, St , . 

29.859 

29.917 

29.920 

29.750 

29.842 

30.71 

31.42 

*3 

6 

7 


2 

1 . 


WaDt 

33.57 

4 


| 


31.94 

3 


1 

Calms. 

32.51 

46 

6 

7 





1 


Off Greenland southern winds are the coldest, in Hinlopen Straits the south¬ 
eastern, corresponding with the position of the ice; in both regions the west 
wind, coming always from the laud, is the warmest. Snow and fogs occur with 
winds from the N. W., through N. to S. E. The frequent rain, snow, and fog, 
with easterly winds in Hinlopen Straits, suggests-a partly open water in an 
easterly direction. It is possible that the frequent easterly winds of the last 
40 














































362 


Kotes. 

217-is.year have caused in the region of Nova Zembla a comparatively open sea, and 
that an attempt to penetrate north by passing to the southward of Bear Island 
and Gillis Land, and then proceeding between the latter and Nova Zembla, 
might have been more successful in that season than the attempt west of Spitz- 
bergen. 

218 . 218 The following are the observations of the deviation of the compass in the 

Northern Sea by the expedition : 


Number. 

Variation. 

Latitude. 

Longitude. 

Date. 

• I 

O / 

44 46 west 

O / 

73 48 north 

0 / 

15 42 west 

June 16. 

2 

44 09 west 

73 20 north 

16 12 west 

June 20. 

3 

42 38 west 

73 17 north 

16 19 west 

August 6. 

4 

42 31 west 

75 00 north 

13 17 west 

June 10. 

3 

41 25 west 

73 21 north 

16 05 west 

August 7. 

6 

41 19 west 

74 19 north 

13 12 west 

July 29. 

7 

40 02 west 

74 48 north 

13 38 west 

June 26. 

8 

39 32 west 

75 03 north 

11 45 west 

June 29. 

9 

38 42 west 

75 20 north 

10 08 west 

July 25. 

IO 

37 50 west 

75 00 north 

9 45 west 

July 26.. 

ii 

37 46 west 

74 42 north 

11 26 west 

July 26. 

12 

37 22 west 

75 25 north 

9 45 west 

July 25. 

*3 

37 10 west 

74 55 north 

9 48 west 

July 26. 

14 

35 50 west 

75 33 north 

8 12 west 

July 24. 

15 

32 36 west 

75 50 north 

4 22 west 

July 23. 

16 

31 14 west 

73 10 north 

3 20 west 

August 12. 

*7 

30 41 west 

73 16 north 

4 02 west 

June 2. 

18 

30 08 west 

76 11 north 

1 05 west 

July 22. 

*9 

30 04 west , 

75 08 north 

4 53 west 

June 30. 

20 

28 55 west 

73 45 north 

1 56 west 

August 13. 

21 

28 28 west 

76 24 north 

0 20 east 

July 21. 

22 

27 36 west 

72 32 north 

4 57 east 

July 20. 

23 

27 18 west 

72 32 north 

2 10 west 

August 11. 

*4 

26 56 west 

77 19 north 

4 08 east 

July 21. 

25 

26 53 west 

64 49 north 

0 47 west 

May 26. 

26 

26 41 west 

68 05 north 

0 30 west 

May 28. 

27 

26 14 west 

79 07 north 

5 06 east 

July 2o. 

28 

26 02 west 

65 52 north 

1 33 west 

May 27. 

29 

25 19 west 

69 30 north 

1 22 east 

September 23. 

3 ° 

24 59 west 

63 31 north 

0 30 east 

May 25. 

31 

24 27 west 

70 44 north 

2 23 west 

June 1. 

32 

23 33 west 

71 40 north 

3 16 east 

September 23. 

33 

22 02 west 

62 44 north 

0 12 east 

May 5. 

34 

21 16 west 

75 13 north 

4 30 east 

July 1. 

35 

19 55 west 

79 24 north 

10 22 "east 

August 17. * 

36 

18 32 west 

78 52 north 

9 47 east 

August 16. 

37 

17 59 west 

77 21 north 

14 05 east 

July 12. 

38 

17 52 west 

77 25 north 

14 05 east 

July 12. 

39 

17 12 west 

78 05 north 

11 17 east 

July 16. 

40 

17 02 west 

80 40 north 

15 57 east 

September 13. 

4 1 

16 09 west 

80 52 north 

1519 east 

September 14. 

42 

15 21 west 

77 38 north 

14 15 east 

July 15. 

43 

15 14 west 

77 56 north 

12 13 east 

July 15. 

44 

14 45 west 

80 00 north 

13 43 east 

August 17. 

45 

13 54 west 

75 14 north 

17 35 east 

July 8. 

46 

13 36 west 

80 04 north 

17 20 east 

August 18. 

47 

11 13 west 

75 52 north 

18 42 east 

July 7. 

48 

10 26 west 

79 03 north 

21 02 east 

September 2. 

49 

9 12 west 

79 20 north 

21 41 east 

August 30. 

50 

8 25 west 

79 20 north 

21 27 east 

August 22. 






































363 


Note. 

As the most reliable of all these observations, No. 5, obtained August 7 2 is. 

on the ice off the Greenland coast, is noted. No. 25 and No. 48 are also said to ( Con ’ d -> 
be very good, the latter being the mean of a number of observations made on 
shore in Hinlopen Straits. Others, on the contrary, which were obtaiued on 
board in a high sea, as, for instance, Nos. 6, 7, 10, 29, 32, 34, are uncertain. 

It was hardly possible to combine even the best of these observations with 
the isogonic curves of General Sabine, after allowing for the latter an annual 
decrease of seven minutes, as these reach only to the Arctic circle and an interpo¬ 
lation across the entire Northern Sea from the Greenland coast to Hinlopen 
Straits would have been required. L have, therefore, treated the observations of 
the Greenland independently, and have attempted to deduce from them the 
probable values for all the meridians through which the ship has sailed; the 
comparison of the new curves thus obtained with the previous, reduced to the 
epoch of 1868, proves them in the whole satisfactory, and, when corrected from 
the observations of the expedition of 1860, they will be quite reliable. 

It was found necessary to divide the observations into eight groups, accord¬ 
ing to the localities and the time. 

Group A consists of Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. 

Group B consists of Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. 

Group C consists of Nos. 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 27, and 34. 

Group D consists of Nos. 16, 20, and 23. 

Group E consists of Nos. 17, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33. 

Group F consists of Nos. 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 45, and 47. 

Group G consists of Nos. 35, 36, 44, and 46. 

Group H consists of Nos. 40, 41, 48, 49, and 50. 

Within each group a mean value was determined for a middle latitude and 
longitude, (the center of the group,) in which a higher valuation was placed 
upon the observations nearest to the latter, as also upon those which were con¬ 
sidered the best, while the more doubtful were less regarded; and by interpo¬ 
lating between these centers the declinations were obtained for the intervening 
meridians and parallels of latitudes. Thus the system of isogonic curves was 
arrived at. 


« 


E. 


Notes. 

219-21 


£ 20 . 


221 . 


REFERENCES AND NOTES TO DR. A. MUHRY’S PAPER. 


219 will p e disputed by physicists, who cling to a few contradictory 
experiments; nature, however, offers more correct and decisive data which are 
confirmed undisputably by the result of our inquiries into the vertical distribu¬ 
tion of the oceanic currents. 

THE AUTHOR. 

[Compare, also, the foot-note on page 125.— Hydrogkafhic Office.] 

220 It can, for instance, be assumed (water being heaviest at 39°.2) that 
water of a temperature of 32° is about as heavy as water of a temperature of 
46°.6, and that consequently water of 32°, and more so of 34°, as it is generally 
found on the surface of the sea, even between floating ice, is heavier than the 
warm water of 48°, which may push against it from the south ; then the former 
(the northern) must submerge beneath this warmer water, and proceed thence 
as a sub-surface current, while the latter is deflected laterally, and must also 
receive and carry with it the ice and the drift-wood which may have been drift¬ 
ing on the northern stream. But Avater of a temperature of 38°.8, coming from 
the south, is heavier than water of 34°, or 32°, or 28°, which is either at rest, or 
flows from the north against the former; then the colder water will be the less 
heavy, and must remain on the surface, while the warmer water from the south 
must dive beneath it. 

This is in conformity with the theory, and we will find that it is not in con¬ 
flict with experience. 

Sea-water in the Polar basin remains fluid to a temperature of 28°, and the 
inflowing Gulf Stream has a temperature which surely cannot at Newfoundland 
(latitude 45°) be placed lower than 54°.5. Between these two extreme figures, 
therefore, fluctuate the temperature-relations of the waters which mix with each 
other in the aperture of the basin; the inflowing Gulf Stream becomes heavier 
the more it cools down to 38°.8, and the outgoing Polar stream the nearer its 
temperature rises to the same figure. (Information in regard to the distribution 
of the temperature on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean to 55° N., 10° W., will 
be found in the “Onderzoekingen met den Zeethermometer,” edited by the Royal 
Netherland Meteorological Institute at Utrecht, 1861.) 


221 This vertically reversed order of the temperature in the Polar basin, viz, 
the increase downward, is established to a certainty by the best authorities; 
but as the temperature has, by some other good authorities, been found, on the 
contrary, decreasing downward, a short explanation will be in place. The 
observations of the deep-sea temperature are more easily subject to deception in 
the summer than in the winter, on account of the melted Avaters of glaciers, 
field-ice, and snow, then swimming like oil on the cold surface as less heavy, 



365 


because without salt, or containing but little, although, perhaps, of a temper a- 221 - 2 * 3 . 
ture of 38°.8, and this is not the natural status. It is, therefore, advisable to 
observe in winter, and to take into consideration also the specific gravity. The 
following later observations in the winter, and in the summer by McClintock 
and Walker, in Baffin’s Bay, answer these requirements, and give also satisfac¬ 
tory evidence for the correctness of the laws deduced. No other observations 
obtained in the winter are known to the author. (Compare Fitz Boy, Meteoro¬ 
logical Papers No. 4, for 1860.) 

I 11 March, 1857, in latitude 69° N., longitude 59° W.: 


Depth. 

Temperature. 

Specific gravity. 

Surface. 

29.x 

1028 

Thirty feet. 

30.0 

1028 

Seven hundred and twenty feet.. 

34-4 

1028 

1857, in latitude 75° N. 

, longitude 59° W.: 

Depth. 

Temperature. 

Specific gravity. 

Surface. 

37-8 

1023 

One hundred and fifty feet. 

31.6 

1024 

Three hundred feet. 

30-7 

1025 

Six hundred and eighty-four feet. 

30.0 

1028 


In the summer (July, 1827) Parry also found north of Spitzbergen, in lati¬ 
tude 82° N., longitude 20° E.: 


Depth. 

Temperature. 

Specific gravity. 

Surface.*. 

0 

32-4 

3 1 * 1 

IOOO 

1028 

Two thousand four hundred feet. 


222 More than these short indications will be found in the appendix to the . 222 . 
Klimatographische Uebersiclit der Erde, 1862, p. 708: “ Versucli, ein System der 
grossen Meeresstromuugen aufzustellen.” 

The reader may question the centrifugal power of the earth as the motor of 
the longitudinal oceanic circulation j this is, however, the only satisfactory 
explanation of these phenomena, and it does not lack some very good theoretical 
authorities, viz, Kepler, Varenius, and Fourier. The explanation most fre¬ 
quently adopted is, to ascribe the cause of them to the trade-winds j but against 
this there is the fact that the current at places has a depth of some thousand 

feet. . . 

As there are but very few investigations in that respect, attention is drawn 

to the reliable observations of Irminger, who by Aime s submarine current-vane 
found on March 17th, in latitude 25° N., longitude 65° W., at a depth of 2,934 
feet a current to the N. W. (Compare Zeitschrift fur Allg. Erdk., 1854, p. 169.) 

























366 


Notes. 

223 - 29 . 223 Compare S. Clavering, Journal of a voyage to the east coast of Greenland. 

Edinburgh. New Philosophical Journal, July, 1830. 

224 . 224 Captain Graah, of the Danish navy, who remained on the east coast of 
Southern Greenland, between latitudes 60° and 65J° N., for two summers and 
one winter, (1829,) found the temperature of the u Arctic stream” never higher 
than 34°, (ranging between 28° and 34°;) but in the entrance of Davis’ Straits, 
in close vicinity to ice, he observed 39° and 41°, although he had found nowhere 
else in the vicinity of ice above 36°. He concludes therefrom that a southern 
stream must enter there. (Keyse til Ostkysten a'f Gronland$ Kjob., 1832.) 

[For an account of Graah’s expedition see note 107 . —Hydrographic Office.] 

225 . 225 There are navigators who ascribe the well known great southern drift of ice 
along the western side of Baffin’s Bay to the prevalence of northwesterly winds. 
That these winds prevail there is sure, but the drift keeps so close to the coast 
that they cannot be the sole cause of it. 

226 . 226 This branch of the Gulf Stream may be considered a new discovery, as 
Pennell (compare a an investigation of the currents of the Atlantic, 1832”) would 
not believe in it, and, being at the time generally accepted as the authority for 
Atlantic currents, thus prevented inquiries into it. 

* 

227 . 227 An unequal diffusion of the salt in the great ocean (except at the surface 
of it, where it is caused in the summer by melted ice and snow remaining upper¬ 
most on account of their lesser weight) we cannot adopt, at least not so great, 
so extended, and so permanent an inequality, that it could be accepted as the 
cause of the existing circulation. 

228 . 228 The accurate observations from the middle of July to the middle of 
August were as follows : 



Sea. 

Air. 


O 

A O « 

Latitude 77 0 to 79 0 N. 

36.7 

37-4 

Latitude 74 0 to 77 0 N. 

38.8 

37 -o . 

Latitude 70° to 74 0 N. 

* 4 i -5 

42.6 

Parry found latitude 73 0 , longi¬ 



tude 8° W. 

also 39.0 





The temperature of the same current and at the same time, at the Faroe 
Islands, is, according to Irminger, 50°.0. Other temfierature observations will 
be found on the Polar chart in P. Sutherland’s journal of a voyage in Baffin’s 
Bay, 1852, vol. 1. 


229 . 


229 The depth of the icebergs below the surface of the sea, generally assumed 
to be | of the entire iceberg, is probably not so great, as they consist of glacier- 















367 


ice ? tile result of the compression of snow, and therefore porous, still containing229-32, 
air and of less weight than field-ice. 


230 Malmgren, the Swedish Expedition to Spitzbergen, 1861, in the Geo- 230 . 
graphische Mittheilungen for 1863, p. 402. 

In regard to the climate of Spitzbergen I will say but a few words. Spitz¬ 
bergen is crossed, according to Dove, by the annual isotherms 14° and 18°.5, by 
the former in the north, by the latter in the south. The highest temperature 
observed by the expedition on shore was 60°.8, on the 15th of July, at Wide 
Bay ] at the same time Dr. von Goes observed on board the Magdalena, lying at 
anchor in the northern part of the bay, 82°.4 in the sun, and 53°.6 in the shade. 

The causes of this surprisingly mild climate in such a high latitude are the 
insular situation and the Gulf Stream, which is proved to wash the entire 
western coast and, at least in certain seasons, in August aud September, also 
some parts of the northern coast. Toward the end of May, or in the beginning 
of June, the slopes of the high mountains, and partly also the coast, become free 
of snow which, however, remains in the valleys until late in the summer, at 
least on the northern coast. Toward the end of April the southwest coast can 
be approached by vessels, and in June the bays of the same throw off their 
bridges of ice, while on the west coast of the Northeast Land the ice is still firm 
in the fiords at the end of July and the beginning of August. There is hardly 
any precipitation of moisture in summer, and thunder has never been heard. 


231 Scoresby, who after seventeen whaling cruises in that part of the Arctic 231 . 
Ocean knew it better than any one else, but believing that ice could also form 
in the open sea at very great distances from land, had the idea that the sea 
which he assumed to exist around the North Pole was covered with a coat of 
ice, and that the Pole could only be reached in a sleigh. He did not know yet 
the belt-like form of the packed ice, which we first learned from Parry after his 
remarkable voyage, in 1827, on foot over the ice to latitude 82° 44' N., (and 
which formation is even now not yet generally quite well understood.) Scoresby 
penetrated through that belt, but failed to reach the Pole, not on account of 
impenetrable ice, but for the want of ice, because after crossing the pack-ice he 
reached the open sea, but then had no ship. 


232 The arguments for an open sea at the North Pole, and a consequent 232 . 
milder temperature there, will not be repeated here 5 one only less known may 
be stated. There are in Northern Siberia, on the river Lena, in the district of 
Schigansk, latitude 65° to 73° N., among the birds of passage, which seek in 
the beginning of the winter a warmer climate, some going north across the sea. 

This would indicate the existence of islands there. (Geographische Mittheilun¬ 
gen, 1857.) 




VI. 


SECOND APPENDIX. 


47 

















ft 
























































































SECOND APPENDIX. 


I.—THE GULF STREAM EAST OF THE NORTH CAPE. 

BY A. VON MIDDENDORF, 

HONORARY MEMBER OE THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF ST. PETERSBURG. 


[The cruise of the Russian Corvette Warjag in the Northern Sea, in 1870, has been prelimi¬ 
narily noticed on page 192 of this volume. Mr. von Middendorf, who accompanied His Imperial 
Highness the Grand Duke Alexei on this cruise, has since published in the January num¬ 
ber of the Geographische Mittheilungen for 1871, the following summary, embracing the results 
of the careful observations of the temperature of sea and air made on bdard of the Warjag, two 
hourly, and at times even in shorter intervals, in a region, thus far, partly unexplored in this 
respect.— Hydrographic Office.] 

****### 

Before entering upon the discussion of the observations made on board of 
the Warjag, I beg permission to record again an isolated observation of the tern* 
perature east of the North Cape, which appears to have escaped the eye of Dr. 
Petermann, and to add a few statements from Russian publications of older date. 

Just thirty years ago I observed, east of the Fisher (Rybatschij) Peninsula 
of Russian Lapland, in latitude 70° N., and on the meridian of the east coast of 
the Ladoga Sea, at the end of August, a temperature of 48°.2, and ascertained 
that the sea, in the vicinity of the Kola Bay, remains open throughout the win¬ 
ter, it being then the resort of numerous flocks of sea-fowl, and that, therefore, 
it must have a higher temperature than waters in lower latitudes. (Compare 
my u Sibirische Reise, 1851, Wirbellose Thiere,” ii, 1, p. 382, note 3.) This is con¬ 
firmed by the well established fact (recorded by Oseretzkowski, Description of 
Kola and Astrachan, 1804 $ and by Reinike, Description of Kola City, 1830) 
that the Kola Bay itself which, although but narrow, has a length of 37 miles, 
freezes only in the most severe winters, never before January and February, and 
only to Saljnyi Island, 17 miles from its head; a fact the more remarkable as the 
rivers Kola and Tulorna empty into it a great quantity of icy mountain-water. 

The same careful observer, Admiral Reinike, states that the winter in Kola 
is not any more severe than in Archangel. The rivers in that vicinity, in fact, 
throw off their ice about the 13th of May, while the Dwina at Archangel, 4£° far¬ 
ther southward, is recorded to do so generally on the 14th of the same month. 
(Liitke, four voyages to the Northern Sea, 1828, i, p. 132; and calendar for I860 
by the Imperial Academy of Sciences, p. 168, Russian edition.) 

The results of the observations of the Warjag will be stated in following the 
course of the Gulf Stream from the west to the eastward. 

1. In the direction from South Iceland to Tromso , as well as in that from South 
Iceland to the south point of Norway , between the Shetland and the Orkney Islands , 




372 


and also parallel to the west coast of Nome ay, the surface of the sea has been found 
by the Warjag of a temperature of from 2° to 4J° higher than might have been ex¬ 
pected from Dr. Petermann" 1 s July curves on chart No. 1. It therefore appears that 
in the summer of 1870 the Gulf Stream was running less mixed with other waters, 
and more decidedly toward the north than is generally the case, and also that Dr. 
Petermann) s July isothermal curve of 10° P. should probably be drawn higher north. 

The highest surface-temperature observed by us was 10° R., (54°.5 F.,) viz : 

a) On the high sea, nearly in sight of the islands off Tromso, in latitude 
69§° N. 

b) In the roads of Reikiavik, in latitude 64° N. 

c) On the meridian of the center of Iceland, in latitude 61J° N.* 

We should consider this higher temperature unhesitatingly as a confirma¬ 
tion of Peterinanffs July curves, the more so as it is known that there is gen-. 
erally a delay of the extreme monthly temperatures, and as we were in that 
vicinity in the warmest season during the month of August. We were, how¬ 
ever, off Tromso in the beginning of that month, and Lord Dufferin observed, 
also 54° in 1865, near Tromso, but as early as on the 19th of July, and a degree 
higher than ourselves. 

These observations agree with those of the Warjag on her passage from Pe¬ 
tersburg to Archangel, viz, 54°.5 as early as the middle of July, in the Bay of 
Kiel, and 53°.4 to 55°.6 on the coast of Norway, north of latitude 60°, on the 
17th of June. 

Such extraordinarily high temperatures must especially be borne in mind 
in referring to the Gulf Stream the temperatures observed by us as early as in 
the middle of July, far to the east of this, of which we shall speak hereafter. We 
nevertheless found the penetration of the Polar Stream into the Gulf Stream even 
more decided than shown by Dr. Petermann on his July chart, the minimum of 
42°.l having been observed by the Warjag down to latitude 64 J° N. 

The North Atlantic Ocean being there furrowed by warm and cold bands, 
as demonstrated by Admiral Irminger, it matters less to show these differences 
than to prove that the Gulf Stream carries in the summer a temperature of 54°.5 
until it meets the North Cape stream. Our observations confirm that this latter 
stream of warm water reaches down to very considerable depths, as in lati¬ 
tude 69J° N., on the meridian of the southernmost point of the Scandinavian 
Peninsula, at a surface temperature of 50°.7, we found at 40 fathoms depth still 
46°.4, and at 80 fathoms 45°.5. 

That so high temperatures were observed along the coast of Norway thus 
early is important, and I infer from the meteorological journal of the Warjag, 
that the higher of the above two figures (55°.6) expresses the temperature of the 
high sea, while the lower (53°.4) is that of the currents in the vicinity of the 
coast. In the higher latitudes, but near the chain of islands off the coast, (the 
Lofotes,) the temperature varied in alternate bands, and even fell as low as 47°.7 
and 47°.. 

The further course of the vessel showed plainly that not the higher latitude, 
but these islands which bar the Gulf Stream and the influx of cold water from 
the melting snow and the glaciers, causes the decrease of the temperature, while 

* The same temperature was observed also in latitude 59^° N., west of the meridian of the 
Hebrides, and up to the strait between the Shetland and the Orkney Islands, hut these observa¬ 
tions agree with the July-curve of Dr. Petermann. 



373 


to the west, on the high sea, the higher temperature of the water extends much 
farther north. As soon as the corvette, after passing Hammerfest, entered into 
a higher latitude and more open water, the temperature again rose on June 27, from 
470.7 to 480.9, and even to 50°. 

This latter temperature was observed in the North Cape stream in the end 
of June, in latitude 71° 1(K (the highest in which the ship doubled the 
North-Kyn) as also west and east of the North-Kyn up to the meridian of the 
bylte Fiord or Sylte-vik, west of Wardo. I have to state expressly, however, 
that the course of the ship was near the coast, and I have no doubt that 
farther north, in the open sea, 54.°5 would have been observed on this meri¬ 
dian, a few weeks later. 1 say so with confidence, although we ourselves, on 
going homeward over the same route, but still closer to the coast, observed 
throughout only 47°.7, and in sight of the North-Kyn only 47°.l. 

From the above I conclude: 

2 . That the July isothermal curve of 10° B. (5 4°.5 F.) for 1870 must not he drawn 
through the interior of Norway, hut, on the contrary, outside of the Lofotes, at some 
distance from the north coast of Scandinavia ; and that it does not run parallel to 
the isothermal curve of 8° B., hut is crossed hy an offset of the latter toward the coast. 

3. The North Cape stream, cooled down hardly perceptibly, runs past the White 
Sea toward the entrance of the Kara Sea, so that in the vicinity of Kolgujev Island 
there are still hands which in July have a temperature of nearly 54°.5. The July 
curves of 6° and 4° B., ( 45°.o and 41° F.,J therefore, have to he replaced hy those of 
lOo to 7° B., f54°.5 to 47°.8 F.) 

On the meridian of the Kanin Peninsula the North Cape stream, which there we 
shall call the Kanin stream, has, at a width of more than 2 degrees of latitude, still a 
very consider able depth, at which it (toes not cool down beloiv 47°.7. If, however, we 
should consider the temperatures of 38°.7 to 41°, observed by Dr. Bessels on his 
return from Nova Zemhla in latitude 74° N., as the edge of the Gulf Stream, the 
Kanin stream would have a width of more than 4 degrees of latitude.* 

The Kanin stream has a depth of about 20 to 30 fathoms; its temperature, 
however, decreases downward the more rapidly the higher it is on the surface, evi¬ 
dently because the temperature at about 30 fathoms is on the average throughout 
about 38°.7 to 42°.0. Only north of the parallel of latitude 70° we found at the 
bottom (in 40 fathoms) Polar ivater of less than 36°.o down to 33°.8. 

In going from Archangel to Nova Zembla the Warjiig suddenly observed, in 
the mouth of the White Sea, the high temperatures of the Gulf Stream. We 
found in latitude 68° N., on the central line of the mouth, 43°.3, and to the east 
of it, nearer to the Kanin promoutory, in latitude 08° 40' N., 49.°3. The 
farther northeast we steered, the more the temperature of the surface of the sea 
increased, until in latitude 69° N., on the meridian of the center of the Kanin 
Peninsula, (44° 20' E.,) we crossed the maximum temperature of 53°.4. Thence 
we proceeded westward to latitude 69° 45' N., longitude 49° E., (the meridian of 
the west coast of Kolgujev Island,) observing still between 51°.l and 49°.3. 
We then came to a second narrower band of warmer water showing 52°.7, which 
to the northeast soon cooled down to 50°, and in 70° 40' N., 50° 30' E., (to the 
east of the meridian of the east coast of Kolgujev Island,) to 47°.8. 

*We draw attention to Reinike ? s statement, (p. 34 of his book,) that he never heard that 
summer Polar ice had. been seen in a lower latitude than 724°. The Kanin stream evidently pre¬ 
vents it going more southward. 




374 


Farther toward Nova Zenibla the temperature fell rapidly, as we will show 
more in detail presently. 

That the Kanin stream extends here over more than 2 degrees of latitude, we 
ascertained on our return passage from Nova Zembla to the coast of Russian Lap- 
land and Wardo. In this summer the Warjag reached her highest latitude in 
71° 14' FT. on the meridian of the west coast of Kolgujev Island, (48° E.,) and the 
temperature of the surface of the sea was found there to be as high as 45°.5. 

Turning southward again, 47°.7 were observed in latitude 71° N., on the 
meridian of the east coast of the Kanin Peninsula, then 48°.8, and so on increas¬ 
ing until 55°, the highest temperature observed by the Warjag in the open sea 
east of North Cape, was obtained on the 31st of July in latitude G9° N., hardly 
25 miles from the Lapland coast, nearly in sight, but a little to the east of the 
Seven Islands, (Ssemj Ostrowov.) There we had evidently entered the same 
band which two weeks before, near the opposite eastern shore of the entrance to 
the White Sea, had shown 53°.4. .Higher temperatures of the sea were observed 
on the Warjag only under the influence of insolation, and in shallow water in 
the proximity of the*main. # 

If we inquire where this warm water of so great a volume goes to, it appears 
to me, without doubt, that it branches at Nova Zembla, and we have good reason 
to assume that the main branch proceeds toward the Kara Sea, especially to the 
Petschora region and Waigat’s Strait, (Jugorskij Shar,) and a side branch north 
along the west coast of Nova Zembla. 

4. A northerly current along the northwest coast of Nova Zembla is unmistak¬ 
able ; it is 'probably one of the continuations of the Kanin stream. 

In following carefully Admiral Liitke’s examinations of the Nbva Zembla 
Sea during four summers,! the steadiness and great strength of this current can¬ 
not escape us; we find it, close to the coast, in latitude 76° N., still powerful 
enough to extend to 7G|° N., where it meets waters of little or no motion which 
reach to Cape Nassau. 

Barents, while wintering on the north coast of Nova Zembla, observed the 
sea to be open in each of the winter months, and sometimes entirely free of ice; 
in the beginning of May the ice disappeared entirely. Furthermore, at the 
northernmost of the three meteorological stations on Nova Zembla, (Shallow Bay 
in nearly 74° N.,) the mean temperature of the air has been found higher than 
at the two more southern stations. 

The current appears to have the same direction even as low as latitude 71° 
and 70° N., as the Warjag made Meshduscharskij Island, (off Kostin Shar,) when, 
by dead reckoning, she was thought to be considerably south of it. 

5. These extensions of the Gulf Stream are proved , additionally , by drift produce. 

I not only saw a bean- of the Brazilian Entada gigalobium , which had been 

found on the coast of Nova Zembla, but there were also among the products of 
the province Archangel, which were exhibited by the Governor to His Imperial 
Highness the Grand Duke, two thick pieces of bamboo cane, which also came 
from Nova Zembla. There was, furthermore, years ago presented to the Impe- 

* Thus in latitude 64° 40' N., outside of the Dwina Bar, on the 24th of June, and some day 
previous, with northerly wind up to 66°.9; in latitude 65° N., at the Solowetski Islands, 62°.2; 
in Catharine Harbor, Kola Bay, latitude 69° N., 58°.3 ; at Wadso, latitude 70° N., 59°.0. 

t Liitke (Viermalige Reise, 1828, vol. ii, p. 61, 64, 80, and 191) records a current of 58 nauti¬ 
cal miles in 24 hours. Captain Johannesen found the same. 



rial Russian Geographical Society one of the glass-halls which are used by the 
fishermen of the Lofotes for buoys. 

b. While the Kanin stream hounds against the Kanin promontory , a branch 
appears to part from it , which can he traced along the east coast of the White Sea and 
through the throat of the White Sea to the mouth of the Divina , and beyond it 
toward the west 

I trace this side branch first in the eastern half of the entrance to the throat 
of the White Sea in latitude 68° 40' N., where we observed a temperature of 49°.3, 
north of the extreme tongue of the Kanin promontory. 

The continuation of it we find from the meteorological journal of the War- 
jag on the passage to Archangel. Between the neck of the White Sea and its 
blind bag, near the west coast of the latter, (south of the coast of Ssossnowetz,) 
in latitude 66° 24' K, only 39°.9 were observed on the 22d of June. From there 
the corvette was steered to the eastern coast (Simnij Bereg) toward Cape Intzy, 
and found suddenly, only five hours later, in latitude 66° K, a temperature of 
the water of 63°, a difference of 23°. This high temperature of "the water con¬ 
tinued to the mouth of the Dwina, and I can only account for such in this early 
season by the meeting of the Kanin stream, which itself has a temperature of 
50°, with the water of the Dwina heated in the interior in more southern lati¬ 
tudes, to which the shoalness of the water and insolation may contribute. My 
supposition is supported by the fact that in the end of June the temperature of 
the sea on the Dwina Bar rose to 66°.9, only with fresh northerly winds, and 
fell to 54°.5 immediately when the wind died away.* 

A further confirmation is the fact that at Cape Semljanoj, on the east side 
of the White Sea, the coast, bending toward the north and not south, begins to 
be less sterile: we find there again trees, and a luxuriant growth of grass which 
reaches close to the shore; cows give splendid milk, and not only vegetables are 
raised, but even some barley. This doubtless is due to the warm water of the 
Gulf Stream, which also invites the inhabitants of the coast to congregate at 
Cape Intzy as early as February for the capture of the seal and their young 
brood. 

7. The Gulf Stream does not hound directly against the west coast of Nova Zem - 
hla ; a belt of cold tvater , five observed 45.°7 to 41.°5,f ) at places 60 miles '6road 1 
intervenes between it and the shore , girding at least the southern half of Nova Zembla. 

The White Sea, as well as the Arctic, in the direction from Kanin to Kova 
Zembla, have, on the average, a depth of but 40 to 60 fathoms; only in the cen¬ 
tral part of the White Sea, within very narrow limits, were 150 fathoms meas¬ 
ured. The few soundings which were obtained in the above-named belt of cold 
water indicate that it has probably a depth thrice as great. 

* With great satisfaction I find in the Sprawotschnaja Kniga of the government of Archan¬ 
gel for 1850, p. 178, ample confirmation that this generally takes place, and the above cannot be 
considered an exception. It is stated there that at Ssjusjma, a village resorted to for bathing, on 
the road from Archangel to Onega, 85 verst from the former, the sea grows warmer with N. E., 
U., and N. W. winds, although these are sometimes quite chilly, the temperature rising even 
to 70°, while with S. E., S., and S. W. winds, which sometimes are very warm, the temperature 
of the water decreases, falling even to 41°. Another statement in the Archangelskij Sbornik for 
1863, p. 58, also supports my argument. It must, it is stated there, appear strange that Dwina 
Bay, notwithstanding the N. E. winds prevailing in the spring, is earlier free of ice than the 
Kandalakscha and Orfega Bays. 

f Baer observed in Matotschkin Shar, (Matthew Slrait,) between the 3d and the 16th of 
August, 40°.8. 



376 


I conjecture that an easterly Polar coast-current runs in that furrow, con¬ 
nected with the waters discharging through the Kara Strait, (Liitke Viermalige 
Reise, ii, p. 72 and 78,) and through Matthew Strait which is always full of ice. 
But this colder water (45°.5 to 40°, corresponding nicely with the maximum 
430.5, observed by the Swedish expedition on the coast of Spitzbergen) has 
surely a not inconsiderable admixture of warmer water, as the mean tempera¬ 
ture of the air at the warmest station in Nova Zembla is in the summer only 
390.2. 

On the western edge of this furrow, where the depth changes from 40 to 60 
fathoms, we observed at 40 fathoms depth 33°.8, and off Kostin Shar also, at 40 
fathoms, 37°.4, the surface temperature being 46°.0. 

As the sea on the west coast of Norway descends to a similar furrow, I 
cannot help believing that these phenomena arise from general geological 
causes. Should not a colder coast current wash also the shores of Norway?* 

8 . Corresponding to the warm stream on the east coast of the White Sea , there 
flows along US’west coast a cold stream , the. temperature of which tee may consider 
as the local temperature corresponding to the region. It appears to continue from 
the entrance to the White Sea westward along the coast of Lapland. 

After, as above stated, we had observed 66°.9 on the bar of Archangel, we 
again found at our anchorage off the Solowetsk cloister 62°. On the passage to 
the Solowetsk Islands, east of them, at the entrance to the Onega Bay, (latitude 
65° N.,) the thermometer went down to 48°.9. 

From these islands we shaped a northeasterly course to the Lapland coast. 
The thermometer fell rapidly. When, on the 21st of July, in latitude 66° N. 
we sighted the western coast, (Terskij Bereg,) it showed 43°.2 near the same 
place where four weeks earlier the Warjag had observed 39°.9. The coast con¬ 
tinued to be covered by drift-moss, the air remained rough, and the temperature 
of the surface of the sea at 41°, but not less. This continued so up to latitude 
67|° N., longitude 41f°' E., that is, to the western third of the throat of the 
White Sea. 

From the fact that the mean temperature of the air for the year at Archan¬ 
gel is 33°.6, for the winter 10°.2, and for the spring 31°.3, and further that the 
Dwina does not throw off the ice before the middle of May, we will consider a 
temperature of the sea in July of 39°.9 to 43°.3, three degrees north of Archan¬ 
gel, rather higher, and,certainly not lower, as we might have expected, and we 
are inclined to accept it as the local temperature, not much affected by other 
influences. 

Reversing our course, and going from the western coast toward the Kanin 
promontory on the east side, the thermometer soon rose; in the center of the 
throat, in latitude 68°, we found 43°.2, and closer to the east coast 49°.3. The 
temperature of the sea changed from the local to that of the Gulf Stream. 

Had we, on going north, kept on the Lapland Coast, we should doubtless 
have remained in cold water far beyond Swatoi-Nos. I infer this from the 
meteorological journal of the Warjag on her passage to Archangel, as in 68° 24' 
N. northwest of Swatoi-Nos the thermometer fell rapidly to 42°.6, and farther 
south, as stated previously, to the minimum 39°.9. 

* For evidence that this furrow girds the southern coast of Nova Zemhla, and that, on the 
contrary, the waters of the Bolscheseruelski Samoide coast are shoal, I refer to Lutke’s state¬ 
ments in his “ Viermalige Reise,” ii, p. 94. 




377 


When the Warjag, on her return from Nova Zembla, again crossed the 
meridian of Swatoi Cape, she found there a temperature of 51°.l, instead of 43° 
or 45°, not only because this was four weeks later in the season, (31st of July ) 
but also because it occurred U° more to the northward, in the Gulf stream, 
instead of near the coast. 

This cold stream occupies that part of the ocean bed in its entire depth, and 
there is no under current at the bottom, (in 20 to 35 fathoms depth;) on the 
contrary, the temperature of the bottom-water is lower by 2J° than that of the 
surface. 

9. Relations , analogous to those just shown as existing in the White Sea , appear 
to exist also in the War anger Fiord , which in fact is hut a diminutive repetition of 
the former. 

The temperature observations of the Warjag, on her passage to Archangel, 
exhibit a sudden decrease to 43°.2, and even to 42°.6, as soon as the ship on her 
course from -North Kyn reached Wardo, while 45°.5 were recorded near the 
Fisher (Rybatscliij) Peninsula, and farther east up to midways between the 
Seven Islands (Ssemj Ostrovow) and Swatoi (Holy) Cape. The difference is but 
small, but it was again observed when crossing the same waters six weeks later, 
as 50° to 54°.5 were observed everywhere in the Waranger Fiord, but only 47°8, 
on approaching Wardo, and this lower temperature of the sea (47° to not more 
than 49°) continued west until in sight of tlie coast to Hammerfest, and even to 
Tromso. 

Thus there is also in the Waranger Fiord warmer water (affected by the 
Gulf Stream) flowing in the eastern half, while along the western shore of its 
mouth, and to the west of it, along the entire coast of Norway, colder water is 
met. The middle band of the warm North Cape stream appears northward to 
draw off from Wardo, and from the Fisher Peninsula. 

10.. The Gulf Stream can still he detected at Kolgujev , not only hy the tempera¬ 
ture , hut also the blue color and the high salinity of the sea. 

We sailed there through water of a color of so deep a violet-blue that I was 
confident of finding it swarming with microscropic animalculse and plants. My 
astonishment was great when I could not detect anything under the microscope. 
I shall again examine the residuum of the specimens. 

This same water, on examination by Professor C. Schmidt in his laboratory 
at Dorpat, proved to be of a specific gravity of 1.02518 at 20°.4 Celsius, and 
consequently of a salinity of 3.4238 per centum. 

We possess through Reinike (Geographische Beschreibung der Nordkiiste 
Russlands, 185Q, i, 20, and Archangelskji Sbornik, i, 1863, pp. 25, 30) quite a 
number of determinations of the salinity of the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean 
along the Lapland Coast, of which the following are the principal ones: 


On the bar of the Dwina. 

At SimnijaGory, (ebb). 

At Sinmija Gory, (flood).. 

At the blind head of the Onega Bay.- 

At the Solowetsk Islands.. 

At the entrance of the Kandalakscha Bay 
At Ssosnowetz... 


Specific gravity 
at 32 ° F. 

.... 1.017 

.... 1.018 
... 1.021 
.... 1.021 
.... 1.023 

.... 1.023 

.... 1.024 


48 









378 


Specific gravity 
at 32 ° F. 

At Cape Orlov, (flood),. 1.025 to 1.026 

At Swiitoi (Holy) Cape. . . 1.026 

Near Kola Bay.... 1.027 

Near Wardo... 1.028 


The water on the Dwina Bar, therefore, has a salinity of 2J per centum, 
which decreases very regularly toward the mouth of the White Sea. The waters 
on the Lapland coast increase their salinity from east to west, reaching the 
maximum of 3f per centum at Wardo. 

A salinity in the Arctic Ocean of 3J per centum, which we find the Kanin 
stream to possess, is, indeed, great enough to suggest the influence of the Gulf 
Stream. No agreement, however, has been found with the great differences in 
the temperature of the water, and there remains, in this respect, an open field 
for further inquiry. 

But from the facts ascertained thus far the important conclusion may be 
drawn in the interest of national economy, that the salt works at present on the 
shore of the Onega Bay were not located properly, and that they should be 
removed within the reach of the above shown branch of the Kanin Stream, 
either to the coast west of Swiitoi-Nos, or to the south coast of the Waranger 
Fiord, or to the northern half of the east coast of the White Sea. These are, 
moreover, localities where also the required wood may easily be obtained. 

There can surely be no doubt that the great number of animals of lower 
orders which are found near the Lapland coast, and of which lately so many 
specimens were procured by Mr. Jarschinski for the St. Petersburg Society of 
Natural History, as well as the abundance of fish, especially of herring, cod¬ 
fish, &c., feeding upon them, and which again are the prey of the numerous 
sharks and seal, are incident to the meeting of branches of the Gulf Stream 
with northern waters. Direct proof of this connection, however, must be left to 
further research. 

The remarkable agreement of the temperature of air and water, and the 
manifest dependence of the temperature of the air from that of the water, testify 
to the correctness of Dr. Petermann’s expression, “ direct heating by warm 
water, w (Unmittelbare Warmwasser-Heitzung.) 

We would have been able to determine by the air, without ascertaining the 
temperature of the water, whether we were or Were not within the warm water 
of the Gulf Stream branch. The direction of the wind had evidently but a sub¬ 
ordinate influence on the temperature of the air. 

The air was roughest (at night down to 43°.3) on the dreary west coast of 
the neck of the White Sea, (Terskij Bereg,) where the cold stream shows its 
depressing influence on the vegetation, which there is far behind that on the 
shores of the more northern Kandalakscha Bay. Over the warmest parts of the 
Gulf Stream, on the contrary, the air was never less than 54°.5, # although the 
thermometer generally gave higher readings on account of the insolation inci¬ 
dent to the shallow water, or the reflection from the rocky coast when near it. 
For instance, when lifting the anchor olf Solowetsk, 64°.4 were observed, and in 
Catharine Harbor, Kola Bay, (latitude 69J° N. on the 1st of August,) even 68°, 
and at midnight above 59°. 

On the highest parallel of latitude which we reached (71° 14' N.) the temperature of the 
air was at noon 50° ; at midnight 45°.5. 








379 


The most fluctuating temperature proved to be at our anchorage in Kostin 
Sehar, Nova Zembla, in latitude 71° N. We find there recorded in the journal 
ot the ship, on the 24th of July, as high as 54°.0, on the next day not more than 
4G°.2, and in the night succeeding as little as 3S°-8. 

During an excursion into the island, however, on the same 24th of July, the 
thermometer showed, even at midnight, in the shade more than 63°.5, and on 
the following day we had an oppressing^ sultry air, with thunder and a short 
shower of rain. 

Wading, on account of the-steep declivities of the land, knee-deep in the 
bed of a considerable mountain-rivulet, I was surprised by the warmth of its 
swift water, which in this high latitude (71°) I had expected to find quite cold. 
I could hardly believe my eyes when the thermometer showed it to be, near the 
mouth, 57° 5 higher inland where it was joined by waters from lakes, 54 Q .5, 
and even close to the drift-snow which had accumulated under its bluff banks, 
and from which it was copiously fed, 50°. It will be found natural that I sus* 
pected warm springs in the vicinity, but instead of them I found the water in 
all the many shallow lakes of the same temperature. 

Near one of these lakes, and evidently fed by it, was, exceptionally, a cold 
spring, (of 39°,) the waters of the lake oozing through a stratum of decayed clay, 
four feet in thickness, well covered by a growth of grass. There can, conse¬ 
quently, be no doubt that the high temperature of the rivulet was exclusively 
due to insolation, which had attained such power through the dark color of the 
slate precipices bordering the water. 

It is this important agency, contributing to the higher temperature of the 
ocean, to which I intended to draw attention: insolation, acting directly in 
the immediate vicinity of the coast as well as in the shallow parts of the ocean, 
and indirectly through the great sweet-water tributaries which, even in the 
highest latitudes, carry vast stores of heat, thus collected on the land, into the 
sea. It should be well considered, the more as the daily fluctuation of the tem¬ 
perature of the sea is so slight, frequently even quite imperceptible. 

In Catharine Harbor, Kola Bay, in latitude G9J° N., where the sea can 
enter only at flood-tide, the surface-temperature remained at 54°.5 to 58°, while 
at a depth of 10 fathoms 51° was observed; at 40 fathoms, 50°; and at 75 
fathoms, still 47°.3. The insolation was there, as already stated, remarkably 
strong, the temperature of the air rising, on the 1st of August, at 4 hours p. nn, 
to 68°.9. 

I state expressly that when speakiug of currents I did not intend to refer to 
the flowing of the water in a certain direction ; the term “current” expresses, in 
this discussion, exclusively the result of temperature observations. It is, how¬ 
ever, a matter of course that, when discovering the sea at Kolgujev to possess 
an equatorial temperature, we must presume that the water has flown there 
from the west, and, after we have proved an influx of warm water along the 
east coast of the White Sea, that cold water flows out along the west coast, con¬ 
tinuing thence along the north coast of the land toward the west, (as a counter- 
current to the equatorial stream which disappears thereabouts in the high sea.) 
But we have thus far no direct observations to prove the correctness of this 
assumption. They are yet to be procured by the energy of our navy and sea¬ 
going people. 

Reinike’s researches (Hydrographische Beschreibung der Nordkiiste Russ* 


380 


lands, 1850, vol. i, p. 23) go only to a depth of five fathoms, at which he found 
the temperature always agreeing with that of the surface. Our own observa¬ 
tions gave the same result. What we know thus far is that there are in the 
mouth of the White Sea violent currents, especially in the eastern half which is 
generally avoided, and that on the western coast they attain a velocity of two 
to four and a half nautical miles per hour. (Liitke Yiermalige Reise, 1828, i, pp. 
115, 175, and 176.) 

The flood-tide reaches Cape Gorodetzkoj from Wardo in seven hours, sidereal 
time. On the west coast of the neck of the White Sea the current is said to 
change under the influence of the tide within twelve hours successively to all 
points of the compass in their regular order, running southwest at the beginning 
of the ebb-tide, then west, and at full ebb northwest ; with the change of tide, 
east, then south, and lastly at high water again southwest. (Liitke, besides in 
other places, vol. ii, pp. 174 and 190.) If such is really the case, it must be 
assumed that, independent of these periodical motions at the surface, the great 
volume of the water flows in that direction, which appears to be indicated by 
the thermometer. 

Should there really, as seems to be the case, be no influx of cold Polar 
water into the White Sea, then the sub-surface temperature of 41° observed by 
us in July- is an evidence of the great power exercised by insolation even under 
the Arctic Circle, as the mean annual temperature of the air at Archangel does 
not exceed 34°. Although the White Sea is comparatively shallow, bottom is 
stated not to have been reached in the center with 150 fathoms of line. 

I willingly admit that our visit to Nova Zembla in the summer of 1870 was 
favored extraordinarily as regards temperature, quite as much as Palliser’s and 
Johannesen’s visits in the summer of 1869. We even saw no ice at all.* But this 
does not change anything in the certain result that the Gulf Stream can 
under the meridian of Kolgujev maintain nearly the same temperature which it 
has in the North Atlantic Ocean off the Lofotes. 

It is self-evident that in 1819, when Lazarev found the entire west coast of 
Nova Zembla beset with ice, and in 1821, when Liitke, as late in the season as 
the middle of August, was prevented by the icc from reaching the Kostin Schar, 
where we encountered no difficulty at all, the branches of the Gulf Stream must 
have been affected in their temperature uncommonly by the ice drifted into 
them. 

In years when, for instance, the mouth of the White Sea gets clear of the 
drift-ice late, so that the ice does not disappear before the end of June, instead 
of the middle of that month, as generally is the case, (Reinike, ii, 34, and Arch¬ 
angel Sbornik, i, 1, 1863, p. 57,) the temperature of the Kanin stream attains its 
full height probably much later in the season. The prevalence of winds, but 
especially an uncommon pressure of the Polar stream, may also sometimes dis¬ 
lodge the Kanin stream considerably. But all this cannot change anything in 
the main facts. 

The Gulf Stream, on its slow course from the coasts of Norway to Kolgujev 
is subject to numerous depressing influences. As we find at both these places 
the same temperature of its water, there remains, should not hereafter an influx 
of warm water from the interior of our planet at the bottom of the sea be proved, 

* In 1734 Lieutenant Murawiev was equally favored in the Kara Sea, while much ice was 
pund there in the succeeding years. 




381 


no other source of compensation for the amount of heat which is lost on the way 
except the direct action of insolation. J 


he influx of warmer sweet waters from the main can only have an indirect 
influence, as we have shown that the much greater part of the north coast of 
itussia is washed by Polar water; the warmer sweet water could, therefore, ouly 
a ect the colder coast water insomuch as to prevent a too depressing contact 
with and admixture of the latter with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. 

" e have before us a complication of cooperating agencies, each of which it 
is true, might be computed mathematically;- nevertheless it will be a long time 
before physical geography will place within our reach all the elements necessary 
in order to decide, in the case of a temperature of Arctic water of 36° and less 
whether and how far it is due to the Gulf Stream. 










II.—CAPTAIN JOHANNESEN’S CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF 
NOVA ZEMBLA IN THE SUMMER OF 1870 . 

[Captain Johannesen’s cruise in 1870 has been briefly noticed on page 191. The following 
is additional from verbal statements made by him to Mr. von Heughlin, published in the January 
number of the Geographische Mittheilungen for 1871.—Hydrographic Office.] 

The Arctic Ocean north of Nova Zembla in the summer of 1870 was 
remarkably free of ice. Firm ice was not seen as high as 75° 50' N. and 79° E. 

The position of Cape Nassau differs considerably from that heretofore as¬ 
sumed, as also the trend of the coast front there to Cape Vlissingh, the eastern¬ 
most point of Nova Zembla. Johannesen places the former in latitude 77° 08' 
N., longitude 71° 00' E.,* that is, northeast of the Ice Cape of the charts. 
It terminates a high plain covered with snow. A great glacier, thirty or forty 
miles southwest of Cape Nassau, (Cape Mauritius , Hydrographic Office,) extends 
far into the sea, falling oft* perpendicularly. The three islands southwest of the 
cape are placed on the present charts too far to the south and west; there are a 
number of small islets around and between them. 

The northeastern coast of Nova Zembla trends from Cape Nassau (Mauri¬ 
tius) southeasterly, and has no considerable bights or headlands; the distance 
to Cape Vlissing (Hooft-Hoelc , Hydrographic OfficeJ is only 30 to 40 nautical 
miles. Johannesen sailed along this coast between the 3d and 9th of Septem¬ 
ber without encountering ice. 

The sea east of Nova Zembla is deep; one mile from the shore bottom was 
not reached with 50 fathoms of line. Walrus are abundant in this region, but 
reindeer appear to be rare ou the coast; the Admiralty Cape may be assumed 
as their northern limit. The northern part of the island is extremely dreary; it 
is sandy and full of stones, and even mosses will not thrive. 

The stream flowing with great rapidity along the north coast of Nova Zem¬ 
bla, in an east by north direction, meets, three miles northeast of Cape Nassau, 

* Captain Johannesen misnames the two capes of which he speaks. His Cape Nassau is 
Cape Mauritius of the charts, and his Cape Vlissing is Hooft-Hoek, the next point northeast of 
Cape Vlissing. Cape Nassau is pretty well established in latitude 76° 40' N., and longitude 62° 
55' E.—Hydrographic Office. 




382 


(Cape Mauritius,) another stream setting at Cape Ylissing (Hooft-IIoelc) from 
south to north. They cause there violent overfalls, in which Captain Johannesen 
saw very numerous fish and animals of a lower order never seen by him before; 
they were of various forms and colors, none more than half a yard in length. 

About midway between Cape Vlissing and White Island banks were found 
of soft green, bluish, brown, red, and white sand, at a depth of 10 to 20 
fathoms. The water there is so sweet that it might have answered for drinking. 
It contains, in great abundance, strange fish of silver gray color with pointed 
heads. This species is said to be found only there or in the melted drift-ice, 
which, however, was rarely seen by Johannesen that summer. 

Maximotf Island, of the charts, could not be found. 

The deviation of the compass in 76° 48' -N., and 79° E., was ascertained to 
be 30£° E. 

The rise and fall of the tide in 73° 40' N,, 58° 30' E., was six feet. 

Captain-Johannesen observed in and off* Nova Zembla many species of ani¬ 
mals which are not found in Spitzbergen, as, for instance, the black swan. 

It is known that the wolf, the white fox, the common red fox, and two spe¬ 
cies of leming are indigenous to Nova Zembla. Johannesen assures us that he 
has seen the same in the Ice Fiord of Spitzbergen, and in Walter Thymen 
Strait. If so, an annual connection by ice between Spitzbergen and Nova Zem¬ 
bla is probable. Captain Ulve considers the reindeer of Nova Zembla a species 
different from that of Spitzbergen ; the former is said to have longer legs, and 
its meat to be of higher flavor. 

Johannesen, as well as Ulve, found at Cape Nassau, and on the Admiralty 
Peninsula, glass buoys and pieces of fishing-tackle from the Lofotes. 

[The following accounts of five other cruises of Norwegian fishermen, in the summer of 1870, 
are from the March number of the Geographische Mittlieilungen of 1871; that of Captain Ulve 
has been noticed preliminarily on page 190 of this volume. Dr. Petermaun considers the results 
of these voyages the most important obtained thus far toward the solution of the Polar question. 
There were during that season altogether 60 Norwegian ships in the European Arctic Sea, 
and all of them appear to have been very successful.— Hydrographic Office.] 


III.—CAPTAIN T. TORKILDSON’S CRUISE IN THE 
SCHOONER ALPHA FROM MAY 10 TO JULY 13, 1870. 

Captain Torkildson left Trondjem May 10,1870, passed the North Cape May 
2Gth, remained in Busse Sound, near Wardo, May 29th to June 6th, and met the 
first drift-ice on the 8th of June, northwest of Kolgujev Islaud, in latitude 70° 
24' N., longitude 46° OP E. of Greenwich. After working in an eastern direc¬ 
tion through this drift-ice, which he found in places very dense, though much 
differing in thickness, (from 4 inches to 18 feet,) he did not come again into open 
water, before the 18th of June, in latitude 70° 17' N., longitude 52° 16' E., but then 
made a quick passage to the coast of Nova Zembla and the Kara Strait, through 
which he sailed on the 24th of June, notwithstanding the great masses of ice 
which he found there. 

There was at this time very considerable ice in the Kara Sea, some very 
thick and of great strength, and on the 20th of June, east of Waigatsch Island, 
the vessel was beset by vast masses of it, of a thickness of two to three fathoms 



383 


above, and eight to thirty fathoms below the surface of the sea; but the rapidly 
increasing temperature of the air, and also that of the water brought already 
to bear their influence. From the 8th to the 23d of June the water had 
been, with a few exceptions, throughout below 32°, frequently 29°, and also, 
the air had been of a low temperature, from 34° to 39°, but then the latter began 
to rise; on the 20th it was 39°, on the 22d as high as 42°.4, remaining to the 26th 
between 39° to 41°; some observations even showed 49°.l. From the 26th of 
June the temperature of the air and of the water rose steadily, reaching on the 
1st of July as high as 56°.3 (water) and 41°.7, (air,) and in the mean of that day 
to respectively 52°.9 and 36°.7. In the diary it is stated, li the warm air has 
considerable influence upon the ice, but it is nevertheless still impossible to pro¬ 
ceed.” 

On the 2d of July, from 3 to 5 p. m., (still beset in the ice east of Waigatscli 
Island,) there was a thunder-storm and violent rain, with a temperature of the 
air at 63°.5; and on the evening of the 3d again a thunder-storm, after which 
the ice parted, and Captain Torkildson could resume his cruise, steering first for 
the south end of Waigatscli Island, and then running along the land southeast 
into Kara Bay, penetrating to its head, where, however, he lost his vessel on 
the 13tli of July, (in latitude 68° 39' N., longitude 67° 58' E.) The cause and 
the circumstances of the wreck are not recorded in the journal. 

From the 5tli to the 13tli of July the temperature was high along the entire 
coast between the Jugor Strait and the Kara Bay; the daily means of the air 
being respectively 54°.1, 54°.5, 52°.5, 53°.6, 49°. 1, 49°.8, 48°.6, and 45°.7 ; and 
of the water, 43°.2, 40°.l, 40°.l, 46° 4, 40° 6, 41°.4, 41°.2, and 42°,4; the maxi¬ 
mum as high as 48°.4. There were thunder-storms with rain, and at times with 
lightning also, on the 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th of July. 


IV.—CAPT. T. TORKILDSON’S CRUISE IN THE SCHOONER 
ICELAND, FROM JULY 22 TO AUGUST 28, 1870. 

After the Wreck of the Alpha Captain Torkildson took command of anotlire 
schooner, the Iceland, but as he had lost his thermometers he could not make 
further observations. Sailing from the 22d of July to the 8tli of August along 
the eastern shore of the Kara Sea, he came as far as White Island, encountering 
but little drift-ice, frequently only single flakes, and north of the parallel of lati¬ 
tude 73° N., no ice at all. The current was setting mostly to the north and 
northeast; there was again a thunder-storm on the 29th of July, in latitude 
72° N. 

From White Island Torkildson sailed southwest back to the Kara Strait, 
Where he arrived on the 17th of August; only between latitudes 72° and 73° he 
met, in the vicinity of the coast, some few ice-flakes. There was no ice to be 
seen in the Kara Sea, and it had disappeared completely east of Waigatscli 
Island where in the end of June and the beginning of August he had been beset 
in the Alpha by vast masses. There was also no trace of the ice left west of. 
Nova Zembla between latitudes 70° and 72° N., and after a very quick passage 
he came to anchor at Tromso on the 28tli of August* 




384 


V.—CAPTAIN C. A. ULYE’S CRUISE IN THE SCHOONER 
SAMSON, APRIL 16 TO SEPTEMBER 3, 1870. 

[Captain Ulve’s cruis is already preliminarily noticed on page 190 of this volume. 
Hydrographic Office.] 

Captain Ulve left Tromso as early as April 16th, made a quick passage^ 
around the North Cape, and met the first drift-ice April 20th, in latitude 60° 29' 
N., longitude 44° 05' E. of Greenwich, 60 nautical miles north of Kanin Noss;. the 
temperature of the air which, when sailing from Tromso, had been 40°.3, fell to 
24°.6, that of the water from 39°.9 to 29°.3. With violent gales from N. N. W. 
he approached Kanin .Noss witliiu 30 miles; the drift-ice extended from that 
cape northeast toward Nova Zembla, and became, toward the east, so thick that 
it prevented Captain Ulve from sailing for the Kara and for the Jugor Strait; he 
therefore kept northeast and north-northeast, cruising more than six weeks, 
from April 20th to June 3d, between Kanin Noss and the Geese Land, the west¬ 
ernmost foreland of Nova Zembla. He had to contend repeatedly against vio¬ 
lent gales, high seas broke over the vessel, and the water froze when touching 
the deck; the thermometer fell steadily until, on the 30tli of April, it reached the 
minimum of 13°.8 (air) and 28°.4, (water.) The temperature of the air remained 
low throughout the month of May, mostly between 34° and 23°, rarely above 
32°; the water between 34° and 30°. 

Toward the end of May the ice diffused perceptibly, and was melting at a 
temperature slightly above the freezing point. On the 2d of June, in sight of 
Nova Zembla, it ceased entirely; Captain Ulve found an extensive open coast- 
water, and could follow the coast northward to Matotschkin Shar which, how. 
ever, on June 7tli, was still blocked by ice, as also the bights north of it to 
Ssuchoi Noss contained, on account of the prevailing westerly winds, much 
ice. Captain Ulve then cruised, from June 7th to the 2d of July, near the coast 
between 73° and 74° N., especially near Ssuchoi Noss, hunting walrus and seal; 
the temperature of the air remained during that time, in the mean, at about 35°.5. 

In the middle of June the shore-ice of the bays began to loosen and to drift 
away from the land, but the prevailing west winds drove it again to the shore, 
piling it so that at one time, off Ssuchoi Noss, the ship was nearly encased to 
the rail, and the keel lifted five feet. Toward the end of the month the wind 
blew mostly from the southwest, raising the temperature considerably, from 34°.2 
on the 27th, to 40°.5 on the 28tli, 42°.8 on the 29th, 47°.3 on the 30th, and 50°.7 
on the 1st of July; at 4 p. m. of the latter day the thermometer stood at 56°.l. 
After landing on the 30th of June on Goat Cape, at the entrance to Matotschkin 
Shar, (Matthew Strait,) Captain Ulve sailed north, along a coast now entirely 
free from ice, passing Ssuchoi Noss on the 2d, Cross Bay on the 5th, and Cape 
Schanz on the 7th of July. On the 8th and 9th, in latitude 74.J° N., the wind 
blowing very strong from the E. S. E., at a temperature of 54°.5, several thun¬ 
der-storms occurred, accompanied by vivid lightning and rain in uncommonly 
heavy drops, and closing with a continuous roaring of thunder from all direc 
tions. 

Beating onward Captain Ulve reached, on the 19tli of July, the Hump 
Islands, near latitude 76° N., where much drift-wood (larch and pine) was found, 
as also fishing utensils such as used on the Lofotes, an important observation 
which confirms undisputably the extension of the Gulf Stream to this far coast 
of Nova Zembla. On the 23d of July he passed the Pankratjew Islands, of 


385 


which there arc many more than shown on the charts, and north of them he 
made on the following day, in latitude 76° 02' N., a bay which he named Palliser 
Bay. On the 31st of July he came to latitude 76° 34' N., longitude 62° 34' E., 
close to Cape Nassau; the temperature of the air was there (the mean of July 
31st) 33°.6, that of the water 33°.1. 

xYlong this northern part ot the coast of Nova Zembla, from Ssuchoi Noss- 
ln latitude 73° 40' N., to Cape Nassau, in 76° 40' N., there was everywhere navi¬ 
gable water, with but very little drift-ice; and at Gape Nassau no ice at all was 
seen; the current sets there to the northeast, still with so great a force 11 that is 
is hardly possible to obtain accurate observations for position.” In 76° 15' N. 
twenty great icebergs wei*e met in the open water close to the shore, one of them 
grounded in 40 fathoms. 

From Cape'Nassau Captain Ulve sailed on the 1st of August northwest, to 
latitude <0° 47' N., longitude 59° 17' E., a distance of 47 miles, without seeing 
a trace of ice; the temperature of the air, as well as that of the water, increased; 
the former to 35°.8, the latter to 34°.7. From this, his northernmost point, he 
sailed south, intending to pass through Matotschkin Shar into the Kara Sea. 
During the last two weeks the sea had become so free from ice that he made 
against the strong current, 120 miles, from Cape Palliser to the Admiralty Pen¬ 
insula, in one day, the 3d of August, and reach Matotschkin Shar on the 6th, 
where he again landed on Goat Cape. There he found most brilliant flowers 
and grass 18 inches high; he had not seen any ice from latitude 76° 47' N. down 
to latitude 73° 15' N., but the coast had grown remarkably verdant; the daily 
mean of the temperature of the air had risen by degrees to 45°.0, that of the 
water to 41°.7. 

On the 7th and 8th of August he sailed, without any difficulty, through 
Matotschkin Shar, which now was entirely free from ice, and on the north shore 
of which he saw a herd of reindeer, counting more than 50 head; he also dis¬ 
covered a considerable sheet of water inland of the northern shore, but could 
not make out whether it was an arm of the sea or a lake. The mean tempera¬ 
ture of the water in the strait was 38°.l, that of the air 41°.9. 

In the Kara Sea there was, on the 8th of August, no ice to be seen; the 
first was met drifting in a southwest direction, after the vessel had sailed 140 
miles through the greater half of that sea; the temperature of the water east of 
the strait at first was 43°.2, then between 39°.0 and 36°.5, but in the vicinity of 
the ice, and on the banks, it fell to 34°.2; on the latter there are generally numer¬ 
ous walrus. When in the center of the sea Captain Ulve turned south, beating 
among some flakes of ice; he saw no more after turning again east, and also 
none when sailing northeast to within 40 miles of White Island. 

In 73° 43' N., 68° 28' E., on the 21st of August, there was still no trace of 
ice; the temperature of the water had increased gradually to 41°.9, that of the 
air remaining the same as before, and the sea contained but little salt. From 
that point Captain Ulve sailed, in one single day, the 22d of August, across the 
entire breadth ” of the sea, making 150 miles, still without meeting ice, the tem¬ 
perature of the water being 37°.2, and the current prevailing in a northwest 
direction. There was also no ice at the Puclitussow Islands. 

From these latter Captain Ulve sailed on the 23d southeast 160 miles, and 
on the 24th southwest 136 miles to the Kara Strait, without being able to dis¬ 
cover traces of ice. The immense masses which, in May and June, had belea- 
49 


386 


guered the western shore north and south ot latitude * 0 °, had now also disap¬ 
peared entirely. The temperature of the sea was, in the Kara Sea, on the 23d, 
40°.6, and on the 24th, 38°.8; in the Kara Strait, on the 25tli, 38°.8; on the 
home passage from the Kara Strait to Tromso, on the 2 Gtb, 40°.8; the 27th, 
42°.l; the 28th, (off Kolgujev Island,) 41°.9; the 29th, 41°.9; the 30th, 43°.9; 
the 31st, 45°.5; the 1st of September, 45°.7; the 2d, 46°.6; and the 3d, 47°.8 
On tliat day the vessel came to anchor off Tromso. 


VI.—CRUISE OF CAPT. F. E. MACK (SCHOONER POLAR 
STAR) FROM APRIL 4 TO SEPTEMBER 8, 1870. 

Captain Mack left Tromso on the 4th of April, passed the North Cape April 
10th, and arrived on the 15tli of the same month at Vardo, which he left again 
on the 25th, steering east. On the 28th of April, in latitude 69° 36' N., longi¬ 
tude 45° 56' E., 50 miles west of Kolgujev Island, the first ice was met, but only 
an inch in thickness. 

In this region, north and south of the parallel 70° N., between the meridians 
of Kanin Noss and Geese Cape, he was, like Captain Ulve, beating between the ice 
throughout the whole of May, without being able to penetrate farther east. The 
air kept below the freezing point, ranging between 32° and 14°, (the lowest ob¬ 
served j) the water between 27°.5 and 29°.8; the temperature of the air rose 
slightly above the freezing point on the 25th. On the 29th of May the vessel 
was headed for Kanin Noss, where she came to anchor on the 31st; from there 
Captain Mack sailed east along the Russian coast and around Kolgujev Island. 
On the 21st of June, the vessel being between this island and the Russian coast, 
the ice opened east at a temperature of the air of 35°.l, and of the water of 
31°.l. From the 1st to the 21st of June, around Kolgujev Island between the 
parallels 67° and 70° N., the air had, on the average, been but a few degrees 
above the freezing point, from 50°.7 (the maximum) to 27°, (the minimum 5 ) the 
temperature of the sea at the surface between 34°.7 and 29°.3. 

Captain Mack now pressed through the drift-ice, east along the Russian 
coast, and on the 22d, not far from Sengeiski Island, in about 51° E., he came 
into open water; a strong current was running there to the west, containing con¬ 
siderable sweet water, undoubtedly from the Peteliora. On the 27tli the vessel 
was off the west cape of the mouth of the latter river, 15 miles from which a 
quantity of drift-wood was met, some 7 inches in thickness and 28 feet long. 

The passage from there to Britwin Island on the southwest coast of Nova 
Zembla was a very quick one, and through a sea completely free of ice, as also 
the passage along the west coast to Matotschkin Shar. The distance from Brit¬ 
win Island to Moller Bay, 170 nautical miles, was made in a single day. No¬ 
where was ice seen; the temperature of the sea from the Peteliora mouth 
northward increased steadily, the daily means being in succession, 36°.3, 37 ° 0 , 
39°.9, 42°.1, and 48°.2, the last in Moller Bay on the 3d of July. Prom there 
to Matotschkin Shar it was decreasing gradually, to 37°.4, at the entrance to the 
latter on July 4th. 

On the oth of July Captain Mack entered Matotschkin Shar; he could, how¬ 
ever, penetrate it but 20 miles, about a third of its length, when further progress 
was blocked by ice; the current at that time was found to set from east to west. 



387 


He therefore retraced liis way and continued the cruise north along the coast, 
arriving on the 8th of July at the Admiralty Peninsula, in latitude 75° N. From 
the mouth of the Petchora, in latitude G9° N., to the Admiralty Peninsula, in 
75° N., the sea and the waters on all coasts of Nova Zembla, thus traversed, had 
been found by Captain Mack completely free of ice, and only at the latter place, 
near which not less than 14 sailing vessels and two steamers were then fishing, 
some ice was again met. There were thunder and lightning in this latitude on 
the 8th and 9th of July. 

After staying a few days near the Admiralty Peninsula Captain Mack 
sailed on the 14th again for Matotschkin Sliar, arriving at the entrance on the 
18th; he uoav found it not only open, but nearly entirely free from the ice, and 
made so quick a passage through it that he entered Kara Sea on the 19th. He 
then sailed south along the east coast of Nova Zembla as far as Waigatsch 
Island, which he reached on the 25th. Immediately south of Matotschkin Shar 
driftdce was beleaguering the coast to a distance, east, of 20 miles, which, how¬ 
ever, soon decreased in width, and ceased entirely in about latitude 72J° N. 
South of that parallel warm west winds were prevailing of a maximum tempera¬ 
ture of G6°.9, (on the 21st of July in latitude 71^° N.,) accompanied by thunder. 

Captain Mack now cruised from the 26th of July to the 21st of August, 
between Waigastch Island and White Island, that is, in the southeastern half of 
the Kara Sea, and especially on the fishing banks. During all this time he saw 
only three times detached flakes of ice; on the 26th of July, in latitude 71° N.; 
on the 27th, in latitude 71J° N.; and on the 15th of August, in latitude 72£° N. 
The temperature of the water over the deeper parts of the Kara Sea remained, 
on the average, above 3G°.5, and over the shallows between 36°.5 and 34°.3. 
The following is recorded in the journal on the 13th of August, in latitude 73° 42' 
N., longitude G6° 04' E.: “ There is ice about 20 miles from White Island, but, 

judging from the movement of the sea, none appears to be in a northeast direc¬ 
tion within a great distance, and nothing is to prevent a passage to the Obi.” 

After remaining at anchor on the south coast of Nova Zembla from the 22d 
to the 27th of August, Captain Mack sailed home for Tromso, where he arrived 
on the 8th of September, without having met ice. 

One of the most important results of this cruise is the establishment of the 
fact that there was west of Kolgujev Island, between latitudes G8° and 70° N., 
fropi the 28th of April to the 21st of June, a thick ice-belt, while the sea east of 
that island, along the west coast of Nova Zembla, between latitudes 68° and 
75° N., was from the 22d of June completely free of ice. 


VII.—CAPT. P. QUALE’S CRUISE IN THE YACHT 
JOHANNA MARIA FROM JUNE 4 TO SEPT. 15, 1870. 

The yacht "Johanna Maria, under Captain Quale, and navigating officer A. 
O. Nedrevaag, left Vardo on the 4th of June, sailing northeast instead of east, 
as the above-named vessels, but in this direction ice was soon met, viz, on 
the 0th, in latitude 72° 04' K., longitude 40° 52' E. It appears, from all the 
cruises, that the limit of drift-ice extends from Eanin Boss first northeast to 
about midway between it and Nova Zembla, that is, from latitude 0S.J° to lati¬ 
tude 71° N., then turns north to about 72° N., whence, in the beginning of June, 



388 


it turns west. The northeastern course was followed until the 10th of June, 
when, as no end of the ice belt could be seen, the vessel was steered south in 
the direction of Kanin Koss to latitude 70° N., thence east to Kolgujev Island, 
and from the latter northeast toward Kova Zembla. 

The Kolgujev ice-belt was found of the same extent as described by Tor- 
kildson, Ulve, and Mack, but it was now so loose, and the ice so diffused, 
that Quale could without difficulty break through it between the 13tli and 20th 
of June, reaching the coast of Nova Zembla on the 22d. There was only a little 
drift-ice on the coast in latitude 71° H., but north of the latter, up to Matotsch- 
kin Shar, no trace of it; this strait, however, was on the 1st of July still blocked. 
After sailing as far as Ssuclioi Npss, Captain Quale turned again south, keeping 
along the coast in order to pass through the Jugor Strait into the Kara Sea. 

Kedrevaag’s observations during this part of the cruise prove the existence 
of a cold stream, running north, close to the southwestern coast of Kova Zembla, 
which already had been observed by Liitke, and of late by Middendorf. 

This cold current, which extends from the Kara Strait along the coast, had, 
up to the Geese Foreland, in July, a temperature of not above 41°; at the Geese 
Foreland 47°.8 was observed by Kedrevaag, agreeing with Mack’s observation 
of 48°.2. 

Captain Quale reached Kara Strait as early as the 9th, and Jugor Strait on 
the 10th, without seeing ice. Off the Kara Strait there were thunder-squalls 
from the N. K. E., the temperature of the sea increasing from 41° to 58°.6, and 
remaining up to Jugor Strait, on the average, at 54°.5 and 52°.3. 

After passing Jugor Strait Captain Quale followed the coast to Kara Bay, 
south of the parallel 69° K. Keeping on the same course as Torkildson, Kedre¬ 
vaag observed there, agreeing with the latter, a comparatively warm furrow of 
water not quite as high tempered, (Torkildson had observed a week earlier 
48°.4,) but still 44°.l; the difference is accounted for by a quantity of ice which 
had in the mean time drifted from the northeast to the vicinity of the coast. 

From his southernmost point in 68° 55' N., Quale steered, on the 17th of 
July, along the eastern shore of the Kara Sea to White Island, and beyond it to 
latitude 75° 27' K, which he reached on the 12th of August. In this stretch 
of 6£ degrees of latitude but a few detached flakes of ice were met with between 
latitudes 69£° and 72£°, and north of this but at one single place, in latitude 75° 
N. The temperature of the sea decreased from 38^.7 and 41° in the southernmost 
part of the Kara Sea, toward the center of it gradually to 36°.5 and less, in 
one spot even to 28°.4 ; beyond latitude 72°\N., however, it increased again to 
42°.l in latitude 74J° N. 

From his northernmost point (75° 22' N., 72° 15' E.) Quale sailed still far¬ 
ther east to 74° 35 E., beyond the meridian of the mouth of the Obi, without 
perceiving ice, and observing on August 14th a temperature of the sea of still 
40°.6. From thence he crossed the Kara Sea from east to west, making in two 
days not less than 220 miles, and meeting ice but at one place. The temperature 
of the sea was, in the mean for the two days, (15th and 16th of August,) 37°.4. 

Beating southward along the east coast of Kova Zembla, he arrived, on the 
21st of August, at Matotschkin Shar, passed through it on the 26th and 27th, 
sailed along the west coast to Cape Stepowy in latitude 74J° K., and turned then 
homeward, making the passage from Matotschkin Shar to the Korth Cape, a dis¬ 
tance of 560 miles, in four days. Ko ice was seen. On the 16th of September he 
arrived back at Tromso. 


Plate I 



-''July Mi 


iTSPIT^BERGE 


Ut IbtrtjAiuj, 1869. 




, MufthnvStr. i 

(Moto&hfifiji SKarJjt 


July 31 


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TH E RMAL PRO PERT IES 

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NORTE-ATLANTIC OCEAN 

ADJACENT PARTS oftheCONTINENTS. 


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